One Destiny
by Frost Enduro
Summary: All of the greatest stories begin with the end of another. Three years can do naught to separate two hearts, bonded for eternity. This is a story of a group of friends, forever intertwined by fate. -TailsxCosmo, several others. Rated K For Now.-
1. Prologue

_Whenever sang my songs,_

_On the stage, on my own…_

_Whenever said my words,_

_Wishing they would be heard…_

_I saw you smiling at me,_

_Was it real or just my fantasy?_

_You'd always be there in the corner of this tiny little bar._

_My last night here four you,_

_Same old songs, just once more…_

_My last night here with you?_

_Maybe yes, maybe no…_

_I kind of liked it your way,_

_How you shyly placed your eyes on me…_

_Oh, did you ever know?_

_That I had mine on you…_

______________

'Eyes on Me' by Faye Wong

Final Fantasy VIII

Copyright Square Enix, 1999

____________

All the greatest tales of history begin from the end of another.

For all 'The End' means is 'The New Beginning.

This is the beginning of a story…

A story of life…

Friendship…

Happiness…

Wonder…

And Love.


	2. Grey Fades To Black

**Author's Note – For everyone who read the prologue, and especially Inferni, the sole reviewer at the time of writing, thank you for bearing with my delays in an update. Real life takes precedent over fanfics after all. Finally, I'm here to bring you another chapter of a fan fiction that is very special to me. Please read, review, and above all, enjoy.**

Chapter 1

Grey Fades to Black

All was peacefully quiet in Green Hill. All the little forest animals were keeping to themselves, and a certain blue hedgehog was doing the same, lying against his favorite tree.

Sonic sighed lazily, wishing there was something to do besides thinking. Had it been three years already? Three years since the Metarex were destroyed at the hands of Sonic and his friends. The Hedgehog had been proud that he saved so many, but at the cost of a dear friend, the victory seemed to mean little.

Cosmo, the selfless plant-girl from a distant planet, came upon them by chance. They taught her the true meanings of friendship and courage, and showed her an air of friendliness that she had not felt in too long of a time. And after all of this, she paid them back once and a million times over to sacrifice herself, destroying Dark Oak, the obsessed Metarex lord.

Sonic shook his head. It had been three years, and they all still thought about their friend every day. Tails and Sonic himself especially kept the girl in their minds. Tails had undoubtedly been Cosmo's best friend before the incident, and when Sonic teamed up with his rival Shadow to revive their fallen friend, all that was produced was a seed. Sonic was the one to give the seed to Tails, completing the fox's misery over the great loss.

Sonic stood up from his lazy position and stretched his legs. He couldn't just let himself be cheerless all day, after all. The blue blur hopped a few times to ready his feet, and launched himself forward at the speed of sound.

* * *

Tails awoke suddenly with a jolt as he heard his doorbell ring. He had fallen asleep on his desk the previous night, and left a spot of drool on his latest blueprints. The fox crumpled the paper up and tossed it at the wastebasket beside his desk. It bounced off the mountain of already crumpled papers and fell to the floor, beside all the other discarded papers that went through the same fall.

Tails ran to his door and opened it. Tails' face immediately lit up at the sight of his best friend. "Sonic! What do you need?" Sonic stepped inside and patted his friend on the shoulder. "Do I need a reason to visit my best friend?" Sonic inquired. The hedgehog was startled by the heap of crumpled papers.

"I see you've been working, huh?" Sonic asked sarcastically. Tails sighted. "I've been doing the same old thing, Sonic. I thought I was onto something last night, but apparently…" Sonic shook his head. He really worried about his friend sometimes. "Where's Cosmo?" Sonic asked. Tails turned around and pointed to a desk to his left. On the desk was the most beautiful plant Sonic had ever seen.

It was a magnificent rose, with no thorns on the stem, two elegant leaves on each side of the stem, and above all, a gorgeous flower that seemed almost unreal. The petals were a perfect shade of crimson, and the core of the flower looked almost like a gem. Sonic felt it, and it was indeed a gem.

"That jewel in the middle, it's almost like her pendant…" Sonic remarked. "it's been so long since I've seen her, she's really grown."

Tails nodded. "It's the exact same kind of jewel, Sonic. But it's unlike any other I've seen. I wish I could study it, but… but…" Sonic laughed. "I understand, Tails. I guess I'll leave you to modify your plans and everything. Don't overwork yourself, okay? Knuckles and I are going looking for another Chaos Emerald later, and we want you to come with us." Sonic walked out of the door after he finished his sentence.

* * *

Tails was lost in thought, playing back everything Sonic said to come up with an idea. He thought of Chaos Emeralds, which led him to think of Chaos Control, and it led him to think of Chaos Regeneration, the ability Sonic and Shadow tried to use to revive Cosmo.

As always, all of his thought wound up on Cosmo.

The fox shook his head and continued his brainstorming. _Chaos Regeneration didn't work last time because it wasn't effective enough. Even Super Sonic and Super Shadow, powered with the seven emeralds, couldn't make it powerful enough to revive Cosmo fully. If I can devise a plan to increase the emeralds' power… _

Tails once thought of what Sonic said, even though his head was hurting.

_ "It's been __**so long**__…"_

_ "Looking for another __**Chaos Emerald**__…"_

_ "__**Modify**__ your plans…"_

_ Time, Chaos Emeralds, Modification…_

Tails clenched his fist, trying to come up with a breakthrough. He sat down and grabbed a notebook and pencil. "No trash heap this time." The fox said, intent on finding his answer.

* * *

Knuckles the Echidna sat back on his livelihood, the purpose of his existence, the Master Emerald. And upon the shattered remains of three pillars, sat three chaos emeralds; one a brilliant blue, one a blood red, and one a shimmering grey. Knuckles sighed and got up to go get some food from his nearby house.

Upon nearing his home, a stream of blue appeared in front of Knuckles. Knuckles hung his head and growled. "What is it now, Sonic? I've already agreed to go emerald hunting with you, what else do you need?" Sonic came to a screeching halt. "Hey Knuckles. Can I have one of the emeralds? Tails needs one if we're going to use the Emerald Radar." Knuckles regained himself and calmed down. "Yea, sure. Sorry for getting mad. I just want some peace, that's all." Sonic, however, was already gone, and so was the blue emerald.

Knuckles got angry again quickly, and stormed off into his house, grumbling as he went.

* * *

The trash heap at Tails' house was no bigger than it was earlier that morning. After three hours of hard thinking and pouring his heart and soul into his ideas, Tails had finally decided on a course of action. "If the emerald couldn't supply enough energy by itself," Tails said to himself, "Then I'll just have to force it out! If I can find a way to the core of the emerald and take the energy to give to Sonic, maybe Chaos Regeneration will work. I have to modify the emerald and use it without messing up. Now, to visit Knuckles and get an em-" The doorbell rang as Tails speaking his plan.

Sonic was at the door with the blue emerald. "Just in time, Sonic! I've just thought of my master plan!" Tails yelped with joy. Sonic smiled. "Here. I thought you might need this to use the radar." Tails shook his head. "How can you think of emerald hunting at a time like this? Gimme that!" Sonic shrugged and handed the emerald to the ecstatic fox. Tails ran to his lab in the basement and closed the door. Sonic sighed with a bit of a laugh, and followed his friend.

Tails was using every available tool in his lab to see if anything could pierce the emerald, but with no luck. "Tails! What are you doing?" Tails turned. "Sonic! Come see! Let me explain the plan to you." Tails recapped the plan to his friend sparing no detail and going over a few things twice out of happiness. Sonic put a finger to his chin as Tails finished. "Tails, I think you're going too fast with all of this. Just think; Chaos Emeralds are some of the most powerful objects in the entire universe. Do you honestly think that a few measly wrenches and drills are gonna get to that thing's core? If it were me, I'd use another Chaos Emerald to pierce the Emerald we have already." Tails sighed. Sonic was by no means a rocket scientist, but there was no denying his logic. "Sonic, I hate to ask this of you, but can you get another Emerald from Knuckles? As a matter of fact, get both to be safe, please." However, there was no need to ask; Sonic was already halfway to Knuckles' house.

* * *

Knuckles was again sitting against his emerald, eating a few grapes and relaxing. "Now that ol' blue is gone, I can finally relax…" As soon as Knuckles was done muttering, the same blue stream appeared in front of him. "Hey Knuckles! Need the other emeralds." Sonic grabbed both of the emeralds. "Later, Knuckles!" Knuckles just sat there, dumbfounded. "I give up." He muttered.

Sonic tossed the Emeralds to Tails when he arrived at the lab. "Will this do it?" Sonic asked. Tails caught the Emeralds and nodded. "Hopefully." Tails said. Tails activated a crane that was near his work desk and placed the Red Chaos Emerald in a claw on the end of the crane. Tails then pressed a button on a remote, and a cylinder-shaped pillar rose from a hole in the floor. Tails placed the Grey Chaos Emerald on the pillar, locked it in, and stepped back a few feet. Using his remote again. A pane of foot-thick glass rose from the floor to seal off the section of the lab that contained the two emeralds. Tails handed the Blue emerald to Sonic. "Okay, here's how it will work. I've put together everything anyone on this planet knows about Chaos Emeralds, besides what is in Eggman's databases, and found out that the energy inside the emeralds is like pressurized air- it just wants to get out. When the Emerald is pierced to the core, the energy will erupt. That's when you channel the energy into the Blue Emerald's core. We can use the energy of two fully tapped Emeralds to revive Cosmo! Instead of having the power of two emeralds, the core will expand and attain a huge amount of energy. When the emerald gets larger, don't freak out." Tails explained lengthily.

Tails readied his remote. "Sonic, are you ready?" Sonic smiled. "Think about who you're talking to." Tails laughed lightly. "Then… let's get this show on the road! Increasing crane force to maximum PSI!" The crane let out a kind of roaring sound and made the Red Emerald ram into the Grey Emerald. At first nothing happened, but then, after about a minute, sparks began to fly. The sparks intensified as the crane pressed on. Tails handed a pair of black lab glasses to Sonic and put on a pair of his own. "It's about to get bright in here."

The sparks grew more intense with every passing second, and a bright light began to appear within the Grey Emerald. It grew brighter with the sparks, and it soon became so bright that even the pitch black glasses couldn't hide the light. "Sonic, now!" Tails yelled. Sonic raised the Blue Emerald and yelled at the top of his lungs. "Chaos Control!!"

Every sound stopped. There was nothing but a bright light getting dimmer in the room. After what seemed like forever, the light was finally gone, and the two friends could once again hear themselves breathe. Tails ran to the glass and pressed himself to it. The Grey Emerald was now pitch black, but it had part of the Red Emerald stuck inside it. Tails' piercing plan worked.

Sonic noted that the emerald was indeed larger than usual. It was almost hard to hold; not because of it's weight, but because the energy seemed to make the emerald heavy. "Okay Tails. Phase Two?" Tails had his head hung down, lost in thought.

_I've waited three years and she's only a flower. But if this fails, she may be gone forever. Even I don't know what will happen. But if it succeeds, I'll have Cosmo back… I don't want to risk it, but we've already gotten so far…_

"Tails?" Sonic said. "Wha-? Oh! Sorry…" Tails said. He walked into the living room, Sonic following him.

Tails picked up the delicate vase holding the even more delicate flower. "Sonic, just do the same thing you did back then. Think you can pull it off alone?" Sonic nodded. "I think I'm able." The Blue Blur said. Tails placed the flower on the table and crossed his fingers as Sonic yelled "Chaos Control!"

* * *

**Beware the cliffhanger! How did you like it? Too elaborate? Not elaborate enough? Reviews welcome (and wanted very badly), and flames welcome- you're just increasing my review count, kiddos. Thank you again for reading- as I said before, this story is very special to me, and I want to know how folks like it.**

**Thanks again,**

**Frost Enduro.**


	3. Hope's Renewal

**Hey there, I'm back. Sorry for the long pause between chapters, but my life is being really strenuous on my schedules, especially Marching Band (Trombones for the win), and keeping my grades up takes a lot of time.**

**However, here I am, bringing you chapter 2 of my story.**

* * *

"_A good story is told from the mouth;_

_A great story is told from the heart."_

-Unknown

**One Destiny**

**Chapter Two**

**Hope's Renewal**

* * *

Tails opened his eyes; due to the light before, his vision was obscure at best. He could see a little red, a little grey, and a lot of green.

_Green? I don't have anything green in my-_

Tails shot up quickly and rubbed his eyes. When his eyes were open once again, he suddenly felt a surge of joy, greater than any he had ever known.

"Cosmo!" The fox shouted, partly in triumphance and partly in hope that she was okay; the plant girl he had longed to see for so long had her head laying on Tails' chest, breathing somewhat weakly.

"Cosmo…?" Tails said again, an overtone of worry in his voice. He scooted back a bit and felt her forehead; though she was a plant, her species still had similar anatomies to others from Mobius, and Tails was sure she had a regular temperature.

Her forehead was almost icy cold. Tails carefully lifted himself and Cosmo up, and carried his lost friend to the sofa in the living room. Tails knelt beside her and put a hand to her head again, a gesture more of hope than medical benefit.

Tails jumped a bit when he heard a groan behind him. _Sonic! _He thought. How had he forgotten his friend? Was he in a better shape than Cosmo was? Tails was the only one of the trio to have had contact with a Chaos Emerald in the successful experiment, so had Sonic been affected similarly to Cosmo?

Tails sighed when his friend ran into the room, just as energetic as before the process. "Tails! Are you alri-" Sonic said, stopping himself. The hedgehog stood there with a smile on his face, at a loss for words. Tails laughed as best as he could, saddened by Cosmo's condition but still beyond elation. "Did you really expect otherwise, Sonic?"

Sonic laughed slightly, but wore a frown quickly after. "Will she be alright?" Tails shrugged. "It might have to do with her coming back but… maybe it's the intake of all the energy from the blue emerald. Where is the emerald, anyway?" Sonic sighed. "It's back to its original size, but the grey one is nothing but a little sphere now instead of a black, regular sized emerald. The red emerald's fine though."

Tails wiped his brow. He though he had completely destroyed the grey emerald, but now there was a chance he could restore the emerald and give Sonic his Super Form ability back. Tails was going to mention something to Sonic, but a soft, melodic voice caught him by surprise.

"Wh-where…" The girl on the sofa muttered. Tails almost squealed with elation at the fact that Cosmo was now speaking. Tails put a hand on her forehead once again. "How do you feel, Cosmo?" he asked. Cosmo's radiant blue eyes opened slowly. "Tails… so bright…" she gasped. Sonic dashed to the light knob immediately to turn the lights down. "Sonic… Tails… Why am I… here?"

"She must not remember everything." Tails said. "Sonic, get her a glass of water, it may help. Please." Sonic nodded and dashed away, arriving with a glass of water seconds later. Tails held the glass to her mouth and let her drink. It may have not had much of an impact on animals, but to Cosmo, it was a great relief to have a bit of water amidst all the confusion. She fully opened her eyes, and when she saw her fox friend's face she sat up fast, startling Tails.

"Cosmo! You're not well, don't-" Tails began. "It- it's okay Tails. That really helped. But… what happened? I'm not supposed to be here, I di- I destroyed Dark Oak…" Cosmo said.

Tails sighed, and with help from Sonic, they spent about half an hour retelling the events from the end of the Metarex Conflict to the last three years, plus the details of the experiment. The more Sonic and Tails told her, the more they realized how much they missed their dear friend. Once Cosmo was up to speed, she was just as well as them. Apparently, a meager glass of water was all she needed.

* * *

"So Tails, we need to think; where will Cosmo live now that we have her back with us?" Sonic asked. Tails shrugged. "I guess she could move in with Amy or Cream or someone." Tails guessed. Sonic jumped up suddenly. "The others! They don't know she's back!" Cosmo rose up to her feet for the first time since her rebirth of sorts, and to Tails' relief, she came to her feet just fine. "The others! They're here?" She shouted.

Sonic nodded. "Yep. Knuckles still lives on Angel Island, Cream and Amy live near Route 101, and even the Chaotix gang has their own headquarters in the city. We should probably stop by Knuckle's place to return the emeralds." Sonic explained. Tails nodded, and went to gather up the emeralds. Cosmo followed him, and Sonic leapt onto the sofa. He was much more tired than he cared to admit.

* * *

Tails already had the blue emerald in hand when he entered the lab, and the glass barrier was being lowered so he could retrieve the other emerald and a half. Cosmo stood next to him. "I had never seen your workshop before, Tails. It's roomy." The plant girl said. Tails smiled. It was just like old times, just he and her in a simple task that seemed to mean so much to Tails.

As the glass was still being lowered, Cosmo's jewel pendant to glow. "Oh?" she said, surprised. "That's never happened before. Tails? Is something wrong?" Tails shook his head. "I don't know. I'm sure it's nothing though, Cosmo." The glass wall was all the way down now, so Tails and Cosmo stepped across it to the emeralds.

Cosmo's pendant began flaring with brightness as she got closer to the red and grey emeralds. "Tails…" she muttered. She grabbed the red emerald as Tails turned the crane off. Her gem began bursting with light, and cackles similar to that of electrical sparks could be heard. There were even small sparks around the emerald. Tails grabbed the gem before the sparks could blow something up, and as expected, the gem stopped cackling.

Cosmo stood there with a startled expression on her face. "I- That- I didn't mean for it…" She stuttered. Tails shook his head. "It wasn't your fault. And besides, you're okay, nothing blew up and the cackling went away. I think you should stay away from Chaos Emeralds for a while, though, Cosmo." Cosmo nodded, and Tails grabbed the remaining half emerald.

* * *

Sonic, Tails, and Cosmo went to the hangar to board Tails' new jet, the Tornado Mark III, a.k.a. 'The Hurricane'.

The Hurricane was Dark Blue all around, with Tails' signature two-tails icon on the tail of the plane. The cockpit was not a seat in front of another; it now had three rows with two seats up front, a seat in the middle, and two seats in the back. The plane was noticeably larger than before, but it still had all of its basic functionality and its amazing aero dynamical aspects that characterized Tails' aircrafts.

Tails helped Cosmo into the co-pilot's seat, while he himself took up the pilot's seat. Sonic stood upon one of the plane's wings as he always did. The cockpit closed, the engines flared, and the jet took off.

"It's so much faster than I remember, Tails! You must have put so much work into this!" Cosmo said. Tails smiled, his hands on two joysticks. "It doesn't matter how hard it is if you love doing it. I love the fact that I can help everyone and still have fun doing it." Tails replied.

Tails flew for just about another ten minutes before Angel Island came into view. Angel Island, usually green, was now covered in snow. Around this time of year, Angel Island was usually the first to receive snow due to its altitude. Tails dove in to land near the Emerald Shrine, where Knuckles was sleeping. Sonic leapt off the plane and landed right on top of the Master Emerald, while Knuckles was waking up from the noise of the plane.

Tails and Cosmo floated down from the cockpit, Tails using his propeller tails and Cosmo using her skirt to float, and walked to the shrine. Sonic, in the meantime, hopped from the huge emerald, landed on Knuckle's head, and jumped off said head. "C'mon, Knucklehead! You can't do a good job guarding the Master Emerald if you're asleep!" The hedgehog teased. Knuckle's veins in his head seemed to pop out a bit, showing his growing anger. "Sonic!! When I'm done with you, I'll… I'll…" Knuckles threatened, stopped by a shocking sight.

"I must be seeing things. Boy, I knew those grapes tasted weird for a reason… I'm seeing Cosmo. This is beyond strange." Knuckles said, in utter disbelief. Cosmo reached out and touched the echidna's shoulder. "It's really me, Knuckles. You can feel my hand, can't you?" Knuckles just nodded, still thinking his dinner had psychedelic side-effects.

Sonic answered most of Knuckle's questions with a simple statement. "We cut open the grey Emerald with the red Emerald to supercharge the blue Emerald, to put it simply. The energy was enough to bring Cosmo back. The grey Emerald's been nuked, though, so we're gonna be short one of three emeralds. Sorry, Knux." Knuckles shook his head. "I guess… If it was to bring Cosmo back, it's alright by me. Just… find a way to restore or something. Having an emerald in a dormant state like that little sphere unnerves me." Sonic grinned. "You're just being paranoid, Knucklehead. It was for a good cause."

Tails intervened before Knuckles got mad. "We were going to let everyone know Cosmo is back. You should come with us, Knuckles. We could get everyone together and have a party or something." Knuckles shrugged. "Isn't Christmas in a few weeks? I thought we were going to have a party then." Tails shook his head. "You can't deny Cosmo being back, Knuckles. Remember that she's never been on Mobius before, so we should have a celebration to make her feel more welcome."

Cosmo giggled. "I appreciate the attention, but you don't have to do all of this for me. Just being back with all of you is celebration enough." Sonic walked to her and patted her on the head like he did to Tails all the time. "Nonsense! We're glad to have you back, so why not celebrate? Besides, we haven't anything better to do. Robotnik hasn't been up to anything lately, so we might as well take advantage of the ceasefire." Cosmo nodded. "Thank you, Sonic. Now, let's go! I

can't wait to see the others again!"

* * *

The Hurricane landed near the beginning of the Route 101 road. Tails pressed a button as Sonic jumped off the wing, causing some shifting of parts in the plane. Knuckles and Cosmo were both a bit scared. "Tails, what's going on?" Knuckles asked. Tails just smiled as the cockpit raised itself up. "Just watch."

After a quick shifting of parts, the Hurricane was a jet no more; instead, it was a car. Sonic took his stop on top of the trunk of the vehicle, and the friends took off down Route 101, towards Amy's house.

Tails pulled up five minutes later. Sonic sighed at the sight of the house. He didn't mind the house itself; he hated the contents of the house. Though she believed otherwise, Amy's 'secret Sonic Room' had been visited by pretty much everyone she knew, and they all knew that pictures of Sonic were everywhere. Tails rang the doorbell.

Cream and her Chao, Cheese, answered the door. "Tails! You've come to visit! And you bought Mr. Sonic, Knuckles, and-" Cream greeted, though she too was startled by the sight of Cosmo. "Chao Chao!" Cheese exclaimed. "Cosmo!" Cream yelled. Amy, who was inside, heard her yelp, and came to the door, think Cream had gone senile.

"Amy! Cream! It's so good to see you two again!" Cosmo said. She embraced her two friends in a group hug, and was practically dragged inside. Sonic and the others quickly followed.

Inside, Amy and Cream were, as expected, asking all about how Cosmo got back, and where she was this whole time. Cosmo happily replied that Sonic and Tails had brought her back for the former, and that she didn't know for the latter. Sonic smiled, glad to see the whole gang was together again. "Amy, we're having a bit of a get-together in celebration of Cosmo's return, and I'd like to know if you could come."

Amy ran up to Sonic and nearly toppled him with a hug. "Sonic! I didn't see you there! I missed you so much!" "Amy, I saw you two days ago!" "I know, it was terrible! If it weren't for Cream being here, I would've gone crazy!" "Answer the question!" Sonic shouted, finally breaking free from the hug. Amy shrugged. "What question?" Everyone except Sonic and Amy burst into laughter.

Cream finally regained herself from laughing. "I think we'd love to go, right Cheese?" "Chao!"

Sonic nodded. "Great. Now, the only part of the gang left is the Chaotix fellas. Let's go drop on in at their office, Tails!"

* * *

While Amy, Cream, and Cosmo went to buy party supplies, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles decided race to the Chaotix HQ (Which was, in all actuality, an old abandoned warehouse gone business office, thanks to Vector's 'exceptional décor skills'.). Sonic, of course, was in the lead, with Tails flying behind at a close second, and Knuckles sprinting in third.

Sonic and his friends almost forgot how dangerous the city could be as a makeshift racing obstacle course. Sonic leapt over a fire hydrant, only to land on a sewer grate, which fell beneath him. He quickly propelled himself from the grate and landed with a spin.

Tails, on the other hand, was dodging sidewalk palm trees, which wasn't really hard at walking speed, but when flying up to 200 miles an hour, it became quite the chore.

Knuckles tried to avoid all hazards by climbing up a building to the roof, but then realized that the gaps between building roofs were far glides for the Echidna, and he lost precious time.

Hard as it was, the friends always had fun when doing one of their 'city runs'. Sonic usually won every one, but Tails won a few, and Knuckles had won once. When they got to the Chaotix Building, Sonic touched the warehouse's doors first, followed by Tails, then Knuckles. The usual result. Sonic pushed the doors open and walked inside with his friends.

* * *

The Chaotix Detective Agency Headquarters were empty, as usual. Vector was listening to random music, Espio was playing darts (splitting darts down the middle in the bulls eye each time), and Charmy was cleaning the windows, which never seemed to stay clean. Sonic walked to Vector's desk and tapped the crocodile's snout to bring him back from his music. Vector fell over backwards with a loud crash, and got back up slowly. "Y'know, for a croc, you sure are jumpy, Vector." Sonic said.

Vector shook his head. "What are you doing here, Sonic? I'd figure you of all people wouldn't need us to take care of a few problems." Sonic hopped off the desk with an apologetic look on his face. "I've got no problem, Vector. I wanted to ask you three if you'd like to come to a party of ours. And, I'd also like to know if we can use you guy's spare room in the back for the party. Do you guys mind?"

Vector paused for a while. "There's no trouble with you guys using the room, but what's the occasion? The Christmas party won't be for a while, right?" Sonic smiled. "It's a surprise. But don't worry, Vec. You'll find out soon enough!" The hedgehog said. He and his friends stepped out, leaving Vector and his cohorts to guess at the surprise.

"Think Sonic finally caved in from Amy's constant pestering?" Espio suggested. Vector shrugged his shoulders. "All I'm gonna say is that I bet you that Knuckles tries to kill Sonic like at the last party." Espio laughed. "You're on, Vector."

Vector flashed fifteen bucks and winked.

* * *

Tails was the first to approach the Hurricane. He approached the door and reached out for the handle…

And his hand slipped through, as if insubstantial; as if it weren't there at all. The seemingly meaningless action now was of the utmost concern.

"Did that just… Did I…?" Tails muttered to himself, staring at his hand as if it were a bizarre tentacle. "No, it must have been all of this excitement getting to my head. He reached for the door handle again, and grasped it firmly. He nodded, reassured, and opened the door. Once Sonic and Knuckles were ready, Tails began to drive off to the store the girls were at.

* * *

**So, after a long wait, I've finished the chapter up. I didn't think it was bad, but not great either. That's for you fellas to decide. Just remember to review if you liked it, and if you didn't like it, review it anyway. Let me know what I did well, and what I didn't do so well. Just hit me up with a commentary.**

**I've said it before and I'll say it again; this fic is very special to me, and I wish to know how avid Sonic fic readers think of it. Thanks again.**

**Frost Enduro.**


	4. Space and Time

**Hello, good readers and reviewers! I have overcome my writers' block and taken some time off from my rigorous school schedule to bring you a new chapter of **_**One Destiny**_**! It took way too long for my own tastes, but I guess it came out just fine. **

**I have read some of the reviews and molded my story as much as I would allow to make the story a bit more interesting as a whole. In truth, I didn't stray very far from what was originally planned at all, so this chapter is a win-win for me.**

**An OC of mine appears in this chapter. He isn't from the **_**Sonic the Hedgehog**_** universe, and as such, I have put a description of him on my profile for those who aren't savvy with the **_**Wild ARMs 3**_** universe. Google the game up if you wish to learn more about the game itself, it's a truly great game and one of the best RPG's I have ever played, and I've played a lot of RPG's.**

**But enough gaming talk; I bring to you the third chapter of **_**One Destiny**_**.**

* * *

**One Destiny**

**Chapter 3**

**-**

**Space and Time**

* * *

The silver haired youth kicked aside a dusty rock in his way as he walked along the road to his hometown, about an hour's worth of travel away. The night was dark, the desert was dusty, and the winds were chilling.

Just how Frost Enduro liked it.

Frost continued his stride down the long road, his hands on his two trusty bayonets. Night was the worst time to be outside in the wastelands of Filgaia, with all the most dastardly of monsters roaming, looking to prey on travelers. This didn't bother Frost a bit, though. He had his guns, he had his mediums, and he had confidence in his skills.

The wasteland was a truly barren place, but it was slowly recovering, thanks to the actions of the 'Heroes of ARMs', Virginia Maxwell, Jet Enduro, Clive Winslett, and Gallows Caradine.

Or as Frost called them; Mom, Dad, Mr. Winslett, and Ol' man Gallows.

25 years ago, those four heroes adventured across the world with one goal; to seek out the source of Filgaia's decay. Find it they did; and with the help of the 12 Guardians, the protectors of the planet, they defeated demons unimaginable to save Filgaia from total decay. Ever since, the planet had recovered, slowly but surely. The Heroes of ARMs knew that their efforts would not show until long after they were gone, but save their world they did, and knowing that they would go down in history as some of, if not the, bravest individuals Filgaia would ever know.

Frost Enduro had been born 8 years after his parents and their companions saved the world. Living with the knowledge that you were the son of the world's saviors was a thought that gave one confidence, confidence that Frost needed on this dangerous night.

The silver haired lad stopped abruptly, and his ears twitched. He heard a slight rumble, and then it was gone. The drifter snapped out his dual bayonets, guns with blades attached to the barrels, and scanned the area for any signs of danger.

He waited for a few seconds, nearly motionless besides his heavy breathing, and he heard the rumble again. His feet shook, not from him moving them, but from the ground itself moving. Frost's eyes opened in surprise, and they gaped even wider as a gigantic raptor-like creature burst from the ground.

The creature landed with a loud thud, and stood up on its hind legs. The beast was nearly 20 feet tall, and the hole it left in the ground was no smaller. Its teeth were like knives, each at least 6 inches long, and its tail was tipped by a crude stinger. It was covered in gray scales, and it had red slits for eyes. Frost quickly examined the creature, and found it to be a beastly Tarrasque; one of the most feared burrowing monsters of Filgaia.

The tarrasque roared loudly, making Frost recoil, and charged at the young gunner. Frost quickly leapt out of the way, raising his right bayonet at the creatures' flank. 6 bullets fired rapidly, leaving a number of holes in the beasts' hide. The tarrasque hardly felt it, though, and turned to charge again. Raising his left gun, a loud bang sounded out, and a scattering shotgun shell flew at the creatures' body, hitting it squarely under the neck. The beast howled loudly, now angry and still hungry, and resumed its charge, its large claws stretched out.

Frost was too close to the creature to leap away, so he ran at the beast, his bayonets held behind him like wings. The beast clawed at him, and missed as Frost rolled under the deadly strike. Using momentum from his roll, he leapt up and slashed at his attacker's underside with a spin. He was nearly splashed by tarrasque blood, a known acidic substance to humans, as he rolled once again, out of the way.

The tarrasque crouched in pain from the strike. Most tarrasques would have fled at this point, but the hungry beast knew that if it didn't get a meal, it would soon starve to death. The beast took a slower approach, its fiendish tail curled at its side.

Frost quickly dug his weapons into the earth to clean them, and to save them from corroding from the acid. He was surprised that he had been unharmed thus far, having never fought an opponent so deadly in his life.

The tarrasque slashed out with a claw. Frost leapt out of the way, but received a second slash to the stomach soon afterwards, forcing him backwards. The pain was intense, and Frost knew a wound like that he just suffered would be fatal if left uncured. He sheathed his left bayonet and ran a few feet away, getting off a few rounds at the beast while retrieving a small stone tablet, inscribed with a drawing of a turtle.

"Schturdark! Help me out!" Frost gasped, under heavy pain from his wound. The tablet, or medium, glowed, and a light appeared at Frost's feet. The light quickly traveled to Frost's chest, making the skin close and making the pain cease. Frost stopped and turned, putting away the medium of the guardian Schturdark and drawing his left bayonet once again. The tarrasque closed in again, intent on the kill. And as it approached, Frost flung his left bayonet at the tarrasque.

The beast tried to turn away, but the gun's blade struck its flank deeply. The beast walked for a while longer, screamed once, and fell over near its hole in the earth, the bayonet still stuck firmly in the tarrasques' ribs.

Frost quickly rushed to the fallen beast to retrieve his bayonet before the acidic blood corroded his blade. He leapt upon the carcass and tugged the gun-blade out, and plunged it into the ground to clean it. When he retrieved it, he was relieved that the blade was relatively unharmed. Still atop the tarrasque, he peeked into the hole the burrower made, and was stunned by what he saw.

The hole didn't seem like an endless abyss; instead, it seemed to end with a purple, swirling liquid with multicolored lights within. Frost was amazed at the beautiful image the liquid cast, so amazed the he lost all awareness; he was unaware of the biting cold, unaware of the potential of another enemy…

Unaware of the tarrasque stinger slowly sliding into his leg.

Before Frost could act, the sleeping poison went to work in Frost's bloodstream. He quickly sheathed his bayonets so that he couldn't fall on them, and lost the feeling in his arms. The poison worked up through his arms, to his neck, and finally, his head.

Frost fell off the dying tarrasque and plunged unconsciously into the purple liquid.

* * *

Sonic stood atop the table, holding a glass of punch. "Attention, everybody!" He shouted. The party came to an abrupt stop from the hedgehog's call. "Now," he said, "we're all acquainted. Who wants to come up and say a little something-something about the guest of honor?" Everybody yelled for a chance, and Cosmo blushed in her chair near the table Sonic was standing upon.

Sonic motioned for Cream to come up. The bunny hopped happily toward the table with her chao, Cheese, and hopped upon a chair. "Cosmo! Cheese says welcome back!" She said to her friend. "Chao-chao chao!" Cheese added. "I missed you very much when you were gone, and I'm so glad you're back! You're one of the best friends this rabbit could ask for!" Cream finished with a hug to her friend and hopped away.

Amy came up next. "Cosmo, you've been gone for so long." She began. "We've all missed having you around, and the adventures we've had weren't the same without you telling us to be careful or any other advice you had to give. Cream and I haven't stopped thinking about you ever since you had to leave us, and I'm sure that holds true for everyone else in this room. We'll always be here for you, Cosmo, and I'm glad that it's the other way around, too." Amy hugged Cosmo as well, and stepped away.

Knuckles came up (or rather, was pushed up by a certain blue hedgehog) and rubbed the back of his head. "I realize that Cosmo and I had differences in preferences in the past and all… but Cosmo, you were a really valuable asset to our motley crüe of sorts back then. It was real tough to let you go, and I'm sorry me and Sonic made you upset when we fought and all of that… Thanks Cosmo." The echidna shook Cosmo's hand and walked back to the main group.

Everyone else who came up afterwards said similar things, apologies and praises, and things alike to that. Sonic, however, had a different plan in mind.

"When Cosmo sacrificed herself to weaken Dark Oak… I thought that if I failed at that one moment, we'd lose the galaxy, and she'd have left in vain. That may have been one of the first times I've ever been unnerved like that. I had so much on my shoulders, and even though I know he wouldn't admit it, Shadow probably felt the same way. I think all the time if the Metarex wouldn't have come, we wouldn't have lost Cosmo that day. But now, I counter-act that thought… IF they would've never come, we would have never met Cosmo, one of the best friends that we, that I, could ever hope for. And that is the single redeeming quality to the Metarex. I know in my heart that if I could go back and do it again, I'd take every chance I could to ensure Cosmo's survival. Three years was too long, Cosmo. Now is when we make up for lost time. Welcome to Mobius, Cosmo- your home as much as ours."

The group of friends cheered for the hedgehog's heartfelt speech. Sonic hushed them up and waited to speak. "Tails, you're up." He said to his friend.

Tails' ears shot up. His heart did a back flip. He knew that he would have to go up, he wanted to go up, and he had every word plotted. But when Sonic called his name, and he looked at Cosmo in the eyes, his entire speech went to the wind. The fox stood up weakly, and walked to the chair. Sonic patted him on the back, winked, and nodded. "Go ahead." He mouthed, as Tails stood upon the podium.

"Umm… Cosmo?" Tails said, unsure of what path to take. "Yes, Tails?" the plant girl replied in her soothing, almost melodic voice. "I- I- I missed you. We all did. Some more than… others. I… I had to push that button. I swear, if I could face a million Metarex instead of pushing that button again, I'd do it. I'd do it without remorse. I don't any other action could have brought… brought more pain to all of us… And since I was forced to do it, I dedicated myself to bringing you back. It took a long time… but it's done, right? You're back… we're all safe… I think that's all that matters, Cosmo. As long… as long as I- I mean, we, have you, Mobius will be a much better place with you here. Thanks, Cosmo. Thanks for staying with us. Thanks… for everything."

Tails thought he had messed up with every muttered syllable, but that's the general feeling with tough speeches like that. He stepped down from the platform, head hung a little low, as his friends began clapping one by one. He looked up at Cosmo; flawless, amazing Cosmo; and smiled. Cosmo smiled and wrapped her friend in a warm hug. _As if I already wasn't nervous enough! _Tails thought to himself as he returned the favor to Cosmo. They broke apart from the hug, and returned to their respective seats.

Soon, Sonic had music playing, stopping every once in a while to let Charmy or Vector attempt to do a stand-up comedy routine, each that induced groans instead of laughter. Knuckles and Espio were stuffing their faces as an amused Cream watched, giggling. Sonic and Tails were tending to everyone, as they always did at similar occasions. Amy and Cosmo were sitting and talking near the platform, letting time pass by.

"Cosmo?" Amy asked. Cosmo was caught a bit off guard at the vague question. "Y-Yes, Amy?" Amy looked at her with a confirmed look, but asked anyway. "Are you okay? You've been acting very… out of it, since Tails went up there." Cosmo look down, twiddling her fingers as she spoke shyly. "Yes-well, I just think his speech touched me deep down, sort of." Amy sighed and rolled her eyes, fighting a chuckle. "What?" Cosmo asked bluntly, her face reddening a bit. "Oh, nothing, Cosmo. You never will change, huh?" Cosmo frowned a bit. "Amy, I have the least idea of what you're talking about. What's so funny?" Amy looked at her friend and shrugged. "I'll tell you later." The pink hedgehog innocently said.

Amy spoke up again moments later. "Hey, speaking of you changing, Cosmo… I've just noticed something. Last time we saw you, your hair wasn't shoulder-length like it is now. And the buds on your head, they're blue and blooming! When did all that start happening?" Cosmo patted one of the flowers and smiled. "I'm just getting older, Amy. I guess the three years is catching up with me. I really don't know much about Tails' experiment, save for the fact that it brought me back again. As long as I'm here, I guess it doesn't really matter, right?" Amy nodded. "Right."

* * *

The party lasted little more than an hour, and when everyone departed ways, Knuckles was one of the first to leave. He hated being away from the Master Emerald for too long at one time, and he was quite relieved to be able to go back to his island in the sky. The Echidna took his usual route of climbing a small mountain and gliding the rest of the way. He touched down on the path that led to the altar, and was about to dash to it, when he sensed something out of the ordinary. His ears twitched, and his head began to hurt. Knuckles clenched his head and ran to the altar with speed, fearful that something had occurred.

And indeed, his hunch was correct. When Knuckles spotted the altar, the Master Emerald was in complete shambles. Knuckles stood dumbfounded, staring at his livelihood shattered into tiny pieces, and when he finally came to, he practically exploded. "Not again!!" The furious Echidna yelled, so loudly that the echo chased off a score of birds flying nearby. Knuckles fell to his knees and pounded the ground with his fist. "I'm never leaving this place again…" the Echidna said sadly. Knuckles sulked on his knees for a little longer, until he heard a moan from behind a rock.

Knuckles dashed to the rock, hoping to knock the sense out of whoever caused such devastation. Behind the rock leaned a silver haired boy, no older than seventeen, with two dangerous looking guns attached to his hips and scarves covering his mouth. He was unconscious, but alive. Knuckles walked to the lad and picked him up by the collar. The boy groggily opened his eyes, and when he gained a bit of awareness, he began kicking and flailing, desperate to escape the obviously hostile echidna's grasp. Knuckles threw the boy against the rock and crouched, his fists up and ready to go.

The boy drew his two guns, each with deadly-looking blades under each barrel, and shot a scattering bullet from the left gun, obviously a shotgun. Knuckles dove out of the way, and leapt, diving with a punch aimed at the boy's chest. The silver haired youth flipped one of the guns around and struck Knuckles hard across the forehead with the butt of his gun. Knuckles flew to the ground and rolled away, leaping up as soon as he could. When he turned, he was met by a bayonet blade less than and inch from his face.

The boy was the first to speak. "I could pull the trigger and send six bullets into your skull, or I could drive the blade through you for a similar effect, unless you tell me where I am and what role you played in bringing me here. Speak now or forever hold your peace." Knuckles began to sweat- he had been close to death several times, but this instance seemed to be a bit more unnerving than others. "I'm Kn-Knuckles. The Echidna. You're on... Angel Island, on Mobius. I didn't capture you or anything, so put the gun down, please."

The youth did not relent; instead he pressed the cold steel softly against Knuckle's forehead. "I've very little trust left after what I've seen here. If I'll be putting this gun down, it will be when my arm is tired and I raise my other. So, Knuckles, you say I'm on 'Mobius', correct? Some planet?" Knuckles raised his arms up in surrender, thinking it might help the situation. "Y-Yea, it's a planet. I have no idea what's going on, buddy. I really need to get moving, so…" The youth raised his second gun to Knuckle's face before the Echidna could finish. "You seem to miss my point, creature. Are you familiar with the foul purple liquid that apparently transported me here? Speak quickly, lest I dispose of you." Knuckles had a look of pure confusion on his face, and didn't say anything.

"…Very well." the boy said, lowering his guns. "I believe you. Forgive my hostility; I tend to prefer taking no chances. My name is Frost Enduro. I was attacked by a beast on my home realm, and the beast snuck sleeping poison into my leg. I fell into some mysterious purple liquid nearby before losing consciousness, and next thing I know, I'm here." Knuckles nodded. "I have something real important to do right now, Frost. I can't stay to chat long, I'm afraid; I could show you to my friends. They might be to help-"

Knuckles was cut off by a beeping noise coming from the bracelet he wore on his arm, that doubled as a watch and vision phone. He clicked a button on it, and Sonic's face appeared on the tiny screen of the vision phone.

"Knuckles! Haul yourself to Tails' place NOW! We've got trouble!" Sonic yelled. "Sonic! What is it?" Knuckles shouted back. "No time! Just come- HANG ON!" Sonic yelled back, and turned the vision phone off violently.

Frost looked at Knuckles. "A friend, I'd imagine?" Knuckles nodded his head. "Sonic never needs help with problems. If this is as bad as I think it is, we'll need some help. Frost, come with me, and I'll see if we can sort your problem out, if you can help with ours." Frost nodded, and reloaded his six-shooter, as six cobalt-colored bullet shells dropped to the ground. "Let's see what this is all about."

* * *

Frost kept up with the faster Knuckles by activating springs in his shoes, which made him travel in long, bounding leaps. The two eventually arrived at Tails' house- or rather, what was left of it. The entire house looked as if it had been burnt down, but also corroded. Frost readied his guns when he saw a few animals, whom he could only assume were Sonic and Knuckle's other friends, fighting some red creature that seemed to be made of liquid. The only exception to the beast's aquatic form were its emerald colored eyes, and a brain visible through its' liquid form. Its' arms flailed and stretched around, and Knuckle's friends made no attempt to attack; they were only dodging, as if they feared what the creature was made of. When one of the arms struck a nearby vehicle, Frost's fears were confirmed; the beast was composed completely of acid.

Knuckle's jaw nearly dropped when he saw the creature battling Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream, and Cosmo, though she was keeping her distance. "Chaos! I thought we got rid of that thing years ago! I'll handle this thing!" the Echidna yelled as it charged the beast. Sonic hopped out of the way of one of the flailing arms and noticed Knuckle's charge. "Knuckles! Don't touch it!" he yelled, but Knuckles was a bit too late to heed the warning. The beast leapt out of the way from the Echidna's punch, but was scraped a bit. The punch did more damage to Knuckles, however; the acidic creature's body ate away part of the Echidna's glove and burnt the skin underneath. "What the?" Knuckles shouted as he dodged a strike from Chaos. Tails, nearby, shouted words of warning to Knuckles. "He's made completely of acid this time! Amy's hammer got eaten away, and I doubt anything the Chaotix can bring when they get here will help!"

The beast used its arms to flip a motorcycle over with a swipe. The vehicle flew towards Knuckles and hit him squarely in the chest, and as the acid ate away to the engine, the motorcycle exploded almost on contact with Knuckles. Knuckles screamed out of pain and flew away, scorched and winded from the strike. He tried to lift a fist as he laid flat on the ground, but his hand fell as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Frost ran a hand through his bullet satchel, looking for one of the specially manufactured rounds that he bought on Filgaia. After a minute of searching, he found a bullet that was made of a translucent metal. He grabbed his supply of six and loaded them into his right bayonet, the six-shooter. He ducked just in time to avoid a sweeping of one of the beast's amazingly long arms, and fired his six rounds at the creature.

Chaos didn't fear the bullets at first, thought himself invincible, but when the bullets struck him, he felt the bullets eating away at his body instead his body eating away at the bullets. The bullets were counter-acting the acid! Chaos suddenly felt a surge of panic, and decided to quickly finish the pesky attackers before the bullets finished him off. The acidic beast dug its arm through the ground, worked it to below the young gunner, and shoved the earth upwards.

Frost was struck in the face with a buried rock that was heaved up at him, and as vigorous as he was at the time, the sleeping poison was still inside him, albeit barely, and he fell cold to the ground, his vision blackening. Chaos retracted his arm and dug his other into the ground, this time his attack directed toward the blue hedgehog. The earth under Sonic burst upward abruptly, launching Sonic through a car window. Like his two fallen allies, Sonic was knocked out cold.

Tails knew it was time to abandon the house and get his two friends and the stranger to safety. "Amy! Grab Knuckles and get out of here! Cosmo! You and Cream get that guy and follow Amy! I'll take Sonic and meet you at Amy's house! Go now!" Each of the friends gathered up who they were told to, and sadly left Chaos to his own devices.

Chaos rushed into the house, set on the goal in mind. The acidic beast tossed and turned furniture left and right until he found an entrance to the laboratory, the room that contained two objects that he sought. Chaos acted fast; the bullets still working away at his body, slowly but surely.

Chaos melted a few tools until he found two gems, one red and one blue, sitting on two tables. He enveloped the Chaos Emeralds with his arms, and began to drain their energy, positive and negative, and transfer it to himself. A minute passed, and soon the Chaos Emeralds resembled their grey brother; a small blackened orb. Empowered by the energy, his existence no longer threatened by the bullets, Chaos began to increase in bulk, until he was ten feet tall with huge arms and legs, much bigger than they previously were. Chaos had become near destruction incarnate.

He had become Chaos 3.

* * *

**As I said in the opening note, I kinda buffed the action factor in the story as advised by some of the reviewers. I hope this makes a difference and I hope it makes **_**One Destiny**_** as a whole more enjoyable to read. Just remember, I can't change much or listen to your suggestions if you don't review! So please, review, fave if you like it, and send it to a friend or two. Because being unknown sucks, right?**

** Thanks again,**

**Frost Enduro.**


	5. The Inescapable Nightmare

"**Hear ye, hear ye! Frost Enduro completes new chapter of One Destiny! Hopes for one more review!"**

**Heh. Jokes aside, here's my fourth chapter. Another OC appears, but he isn't included in my profile. Please google up 'Baldur's Gate' and 'Forgotten Realms' for information on the world he comes from and a bit more of an understanding of the story.**

**For those of you who know Baldur's Gate, he is a Level 34 Chaotic Good Moon Elf Ranger, with a bit of a twist on the original game story. Enjoy the chapter; I worked hard on this one.**

* * *

One Destiny

Chapter 4

The Inescapable Nightmare

"Minsc!" a brown haired elf shouted. "Minsc! Where the hell are you?"

Tycane, the legendary Moon Elf Ranger, searched relentlessly for his friend who had disappeared just recently. As much as he thought the berserker to be as dumb as a rock, Minsc was a valuable companion whom Tycane would hate to lose.

Tycane was a Moon Elf who renounced the magical ways of the elders of his childhood village and reluctantly left his family years ago to become a ranger under the Goddess Mielikki. During his travels as a wandering ranger, he came upon the Citadel of Candlekeep, where he stayed a year, acting as a messenger. While there, Tycane met and became friends with two orphan twin half elves- the sorcerer Zephyr and the fighter Quinso. He also met the young human cavalier, Paijin. The three young men looked up to Tycane with admiration, and often accompanied Tycane on his messaging travels.

However, one day, Zephyr and Quinso's foster father, Gorion, an old sage, took the two half elves and fled the keep for unknown reasons. Tycane and Paijin followed suit, only to see Gorion struck down by a mysterious armored figure while Zephyr and Quinso fled.

Tycane, Paijin, Quinso, and Zephyr traveled along the Sword Coast looking for the armored figure, recruiting a sun elven thief named Garrikas who son became Tycane's best friend, and earned much fame to their names. Eventually, the armored figure, known as Sarevok, was found, though the discovery was accompanied by the dark revelation the Zephyr and Quinso were children of the dead God of Murder, Bhaal, who sensed his own death coming and spawned a score of mortal progeny across the land to hopefully revive him. Sarevok, too, was found to be a 'Bhaalspawn', therefore making him Zephyr and Quinso's brother.

Sarevok had almost began a mass war between the city of Baldur's Gate and the country of Amn that would have caused enough slaughter for Sarevok to be able to rise to the position of new Lord of Murder. Tycane, Zephyr, Paijin, Quinso, and Garrikas found Sarevok and killed him, though Tycane was mortally wounded in the process. Zephyr gave up a bit of his divine soul to Tycane, saving the Moon Elf's life, but making Tycane a Bhaalspawn by divinity. Tycane then left the group for a while, afraid that his newfound divinity would only bring harm to his dearest friends.

Tycane had met Minsc only six months ago when he had been captured by the evil mage Jon Irenicus and thrown into a torturing prison alongside an adventuring party of five; Minsc and his beloved hamster Boo, a witch named Dynaheir whom Minsc had been guarding, Khalid, the stuttering yet valiant warrior, his loving wife Jaheira, the mouthy druid with an iron will, and Imoen, the young and spunky thief whom he had met during his year-long stay at the library-fortress of Candlekeep. Of the five of them, only Minsc and Imoen had lived through the escape from Irenicus's devilish prison. Dynaheir and Khalid had been tortured to death before Tycane had barely knew them, and Jaheira died after a fit of blind rage caused by the discovery of her husband Khalid's death led to her being careless; careless enough to be taken down by a goblin arrow to the neck.

Soon after escaping, Tycane forged a straight path through the crime and violence in the Amnish city of Athkatla with his five allies that traveled with him even now, in the process crippling an entire guild, killing three dragons, saving an elven city from utter ruin, and going to hell and coming back unscathed. Tycane was afterwards thrown into the war of the Bhaalspawn, in which powerful Bhaalspawn across the realms killed each other for a place as the new lord of murder. Tycane eventually emerged the victor, along with Zephyr and Quinso, and traveled to the Throne of Bhaal in the Divine plane to rid himself of the cursed divinity forever, as did Zephyr and Quinso. Tycane then left with Garrikas and his newer adventuring party, telling Zephyr, Quinso, and Paijin to seek him out when they needed him. And now, Tycane ventured with the same group he left with, doing tasks for the greater good.

* * *

It had been seven years since Tycane left his divinity behind, and Tycane's reminiscing brought back waves of nostalgia upon him. His flashback images were suddenly disrupted by a female voice.

"I doubt this search will get us very far, Tycane. Can't you give it a rest? We've been searching for hours with no luck." Imoen, the red-headed thief asked Tycane. The moon elf glared at her for a while, then turned back to the section of ground he was examining. "Patience, Imoen." He said. I think we're getting closer. I'm not sure, but I think these are hamster tracks. Wild hamsters don't live in this part of Amn, so that can only mean Boo was here. And where there is Boo, there is Minsc. Plus, there are large boot prints following. Minsc sized boot prints." Imoen didn't reply, but sighed out of discontent.

"Not to worry, Imoen dear. Minsc can't be much farther now that Tycane has a grip on his trail." Said Mazzy, the Halfling Paladin. Mazzy was famous for being the first and only non-human paladin on Faerun, a title she earned during her travels with Tycane. Imoen smiled a bit and agreed to march on. Anomen, however, had almost had enough. "Tycane!" the cleric shouted. "I agree heartily with Imoen. We've been at this too long to keep going! I can only stand so much! I say let Minsc run off, for he'll return when he realizes he needs food to live." Garrikas, a few feet away, chuckled at Anomen. "If I do recall, Mr. High-and-Mighty, Minsc has saved your life on more than one occasion, has he not?" Anomen delivered a cold look to the thief, but said nothing.

"Tycane, darling?" A sweet soothing voice said a little later. Tycane turned to face his wife, the avariel, or winged elf, Aerie. Aerie had long ago lost her wings to infection when she was confined in a circus, but when Tycane rescued her from the circus, he showed her that life wasn't so bad without wings, despite what she thought before. Aerie herself, though generally quiet and docile, was a powerful mage and cleric. "Yes, Aerie?" Tycane asked back. "What do you think happened? I mean, why did Minsc run off all of a sudden?" Tycane turned and pressed a hand in one of the bootprints. "Well, I think that-" Tycane began, but he was cut off by the voice of an excited young elf boy.

"Yay! Yay! Daddy's gonna read the footie-prints! Lemme watch! Lemme watch!" shouted Talfein, Tycane and Aerie's first child. Talfein was a very excitable boy, influenced by Imoen quite a bit, and he had quite a talent in music, able to play a harp at the age of six. Talfein had all the makings of a future bard; good looks even at a young age, talent in music, and an outgoing personality. "Can me and Celia watch, momma?" the little elf asked, trying to be cute so he could watch his father. Tycane knelt beside his son and looked up at Aerie, playfully imitating Talfein's begging face. Aerie giggled a bit, then handed Celia, her and Tycane's two year old daughter and the only of their two children born with wings, to Tycane. "Have fun, you three." Talfein's eyes seemed to light up, and he went to the footprint.

Tycane knelt down again, Celia in his left arm and his right arm pointing at the various signs and prints. "And here, Boo tried to scuttle away from Minsc, and he got away! Boo must've been going fast, because Minsc usually catches him pretty quick. Next, Boo ran here, and… wait, did you hear that?" Tycane said. Talfein covered his mouth and held his dad's arm.

Tycane listened closer, and listened for about a minute, until he heard a relieving sound. A man, somewhere off in the distance, shouted something that Tycane couldn't recognize at first. He handed Celia back to Aerie, who strapped the girl into a pouch on her back, and stood up. Talfein pulled out his little hunting knife, which was pretty much a shortsword for a child his size, and assumed a fighting stance, even though his mom always casted a greater invincibility spell on him and Celia so they couldn't be hurt when there was trouble, which also meant he couldn't attack during the spell. Tycane drew his two long swords, named 'Foebane' and 'Daystar'. Anomen brandished his mace and family shield, while Mazzy strung her magic bow. Imoen put her hand on a few throwing knives, Garrikas drew a short sword and dagger, and Aerie readied herself with a sling and shield.

The group stood in the clearing, the adults ready for an attack, and the children in bubbles of impenetrable magic. Tycane didn't hear any more screams, but he heard hurried footsteps and the sound of plate mail clinking together. _It could be Minsc, it could be a warrior sent to kill us. There's no telling… _Tycane thought to himself. The waiting seemed endless, and Talfein was eventually sitting on the ground out of complete boredom. It didn't take long after that, though, for a bald headed plate-garbed man to burst into the clearing. "Ah, Boo! Look who you found! Why did you run away just to bring us in a circle back to our friends? They must have been worried sick! How could they chop down on the meaty marrow of EVIL without Minsc?" Tycane sheathed his swords and sighed. "Minsc? What happened?" Minsc looked up and smiled at his friend. "Boo ran away last night, and I could not just leave him! What is Minsc, almighty kicker of the butts of EVIL, without Boo? I am very sorry." Tycane stood there, staring at Minsc for a while, then began to chuckle. "Did Boo find anything actually real this time, Minsc?"

Minsc patted his little hamster on the hand. "Boo always finds things. This time he found a pool of purple stuff. It looks very suspicious, and Minsc thinks it may be a pool of EVIL, but I decided to ask you to see it as well. Follow me, for I remember exactly where Boo went!" Minsc proudly proclaimed. Anomen angrily stared at Tycane, hoping that the ranger would disagree to go on the hunt for the pool, but the natural Moon Elf wanderlust was ever-present in Tycane. "Sure, Minsc. Let's check it out."

* * *

Minsc led the group to what looked like a natural rock spring in the ground, but instead of clear water inside, there was the purple liquid that Minsc spoke of. "Come, Boo! Let us scour the pool for EVIL!" Anomen looked at Minsc. "I wouldn't get too close, my barbaric friend. It really could be a manifestation of evil spirits." Minsc pretended to not hear, and leaned over to look into the hole. He peered long and hard, until he felt Boo wriggling wildly in his hand. Talfein looked from where he was staring, for his mother wouldn't let him anywhere near the pit. "What's the matter with Boo, Uncle Minsc?" "I don't know, little Tycane! He seems to be a bit too eager to fight the EVIL of this pool-BOO! NOOO!" Minsc screamed as his hamster escaped his grasp and jumped into the pool. Minsc didn't have think twice about throwing himself into the pool to save his furry companion. "Uncle Minsc!" Talfein yelped.

"Minsc!" Tycane shouted, and rushed to the pool, but stopped when he realized something. "No splash…" he muttered. Tycane unsheathed Foebane and stared into the pool, but it no longer had any water in it. As a matter of fact, Tycane could see the ground where the water should have been. "Minsc!" Tycane shouted. "MINSC!"

* * *

Sonic woke up and found himself staring at a ceiling, dazed and confused. He remembered being launched, seeing the sky for a moment, then everything blacked out in a sudden explosion of pain. He sat up and looked around. To his left, a teenage human laid down on a sofa, his head bandaged. To his right, Knuckles laid upon a bed with several bandages and a few taped ice packs. "Jeez… Chaos was never that tough back then… Not even when he was in a shark form. Why did he suddenly appear again? And… why is he acid like that? Things just don't make sense when that ancient puddle is involved."

Sonic reached for a nearby drawer to give himself a bit of balance as he tried to get out of bed. His hand touched the drawer, and fell through, as if it had become insubstantial. Sonic fell to the ground in confusion, and got up even more dazed than before. "Did my hand just… pass through? I must be dizzy…" He tried to tell himself. "No, I touched the drawer. I'm sure of it. Something's wrong. Is this Eggman's doing? I… I gotta find Tails… see if he knows what's up…"

As soon as Sonic finished the sentence, Amy opened the door. "Sonic? Oh, you're alright! I thought you had hurt yourself again!" She squealed, as she rushed and hugged Sonic tightly. "Yea, I'm alright Amy… but.. urgh… I think that this hug is doing more damage than that fall. Ease off a bit." Amy let off and held Sonic's arms. "Tails is waiting for you downstairs. You should go see him. He looks worried." Sonic smiled. "Alright. Let's go."

* * *

"Cosmo?" Tails asked, gathering up the nerve to talk to the seedrian girl, an action that seemed much harder than it was before. "Yes Tails?" was the reply, the usual reply, but it struck Tails deep down. Every word she muttered in his direction made him suddenly happy, suddenly excited. "I-uh… I'm sorry that… this whole Chaos thing put a damper on your time here. I wish things could have remained peaceful so me and you- I mean, all of us, could spend more time with each other. I don't think I've ever been around you without a major strife hanging over our heads, and… I want all that to stop. I just want a bit of piece so we can all have fun together."

Cosmo looked at her friend with an adoring look, but quickly shook it off. She didn't expect so sudden of a confession. "Tails… I… Do you… remember what Sonic said after Knuckles wrecked the party on the Blue Typhoon? We don't need fancy decorations or props to have a good time, right? All that matters is that we're all together, all in one piece. This time is just like that. We don't need peace to have fun, right? It would make it nicer, but I think that the fight for peace is more important than the peace that follows." Cosmo moved from the chair she was sitting on to the sofa that Tails was sitting on next to him.

"Cosmo? I have… something to give you." Was all that Tails could say. He was glad he did, though, because he did in fact have something to give her. "What is it, Tails?" she asked, smile wide with anticipation. Tails reached to a picture on a table near him, a photo of the night that Cosmo tried to throw a party to thank everyone for their kindness. Tails and Cosmo were up front, Tails with his arm around Cosmo's shoulder. Sonic was struggling in Amy's grasp, while Knuckles and the Chaotix Gang posed wildly with marker-moustaches drawn on their faces. Cream and Cheese were, as always, laughing at the silliness of the situation. Chris had taken the picture.

"I had meant to give you a copy for your room, but I was never able to. At least you can see it now. You looked so different back then, it's amazing." Cosmo smiled and leant over. "I love it Tails! Oh, you're the best!" She said as she gave him a flying hug of sorts, and spoke into his ear, her head still over his shoulder. "You know," she said, "I never… really thanked you for bringing me back. I don't remember where I went after I evolved into the tree of life to defeat Dark Oak, and it seemed like I went from one place to another in a moment, but it was still horrible, thinking I'd never come back to you and everyone. Tails… thank you for giving me another chance at life. Thank you for… for… everything." She closed her eyes and tightened her grip on Tails, but not hard enough to hurt him. Tails hugged her back, eyes closed, and patted her back.

Cosmo leaned back, blushing, and stared into Tails' eyes, Tails staring right back. For a moment the world seemed to dissolve around them, as if there were nothing but themselves. Tails felt his head lean towards Cosmo's, without his consent but without disapproval. They drifted closer, never losing the sight of one another's eyes. Tails and Cosmo felt all was right in the world, even as their friends pained above. They closed their eyes, letting their consciousnesses guide the way. Their faces got closer, closer, until they could feel each other's breath…

"Tails!" Sonic shouted as he neared the bottom of the stairs. Tails and Cosmo were startled to the point of leaping, but they both landed rather safely on the sofa. Tails rubbed the back of his neck, laughing half-heartedly, while Cosmo attempted to cover up her cherry-red cheeks. Sonic scratched his ear and looked at Tails, confused. "Something up?" The hedgehog said after a few seconds. Tails cleared his throat and stood up. "You were out for a day and a half, Sonic. Frost, the guy with the guns, had woken up and introduced himself soon after we got here. It's because of him we have a bit of hope; I'll explain that later. As for Knuckles… well, Knuckles is lucky he made it out alive. He probably won't wake up for a while. That explosion shook him pretty hard, and the fact that it was from a 300-pound motorcycle doesn't help." Sonic closed his eyes and hung his head down for a while, but looked up at Tails again. "So, how's this Frost fella gonna help us? If he can't touch acid, I don't see many possibilities."

Tails opened a drawer next to him and pulled a small, glass-like bullet. "This is one of Frost's bullets, which missed Chaos when he shot at him. It's made of what he calls 'mythral'. If you've ever read anything fantasy-related, it's much like the fantasized all-purpose metal called 'mithril'. One special thing about it is that it is completely invulnerable to any type of corrosion; as a matter of fact, it can counter-act any type of poison or acid and eat the acid away instead. If I can get access to Eggman's atom splicing machine, I can re-arrange the genetic makeup of a few normal household items into rocks of pure mythral." He said. Sonic scratched his head in confusion. "So basically, this stuff can take acid and melt it? And you could take anything and turn it into this stuff?" Tails nodded. "It has to be something really stable… something plastic, probably, would make a good bit of mythral." Sonic just shrugged. "As long as we can take down Chaos without blowing the world up or sending us all to another planet, I'm all for it." Sonic said. Cosmo giggled, still hot red.

* * *

"And in earlier news, an unknown monster, much alike to the Chaos creature that demolished Station Square. This new creature is thought to be made of an acidic substance unknown to even our greatest scientists. Much dispute has been made over the origin of this creature, but all agree that it is something to be feared. Residents are urged to get out now, and a mass evacuation is currently undergoing planning…"

The television flicked off as a man sitting in a chair twiddled his fingers. "So… that beast has dared to show itself here again. Had it not gotten enough from Sonic and his precious Emeralds?" The man mused. "Well… Perhaps I can show it a thing or two myself this time around."

A purple gem glowed upon the man's desk as he stared at it, with a look of anticipation. "I shall teach Chaos that no-one makes a fool out of Dr. Robotnik, the greatest genius of Mobius!"

* * *

The Hurricane was nearing a huge island, not uninhabited but not largely populated. The island's mechanization was obvious, and it showed no signs of life, though it showed many signs of robots working on huge statues of a large man with a ludicrous moustache.

Tails let the airplane dip downwards a little bit, looking towards Sonic who was on top of the cockpit, fitting an infrared scope onto his face. "Sonic! You know what to do, right?" Sonic nodded. "Put us in a little lower and find that helipad you were talking about. Just watch out for any Egg-head missiles." Tails chuckled a bit. "I can't go any lower without risking detection, but your stop's in sight. Remember that the air vent is the target. Land anywhere else and you'll risk being squished or caught." Sonic scratched behind his ear. "Jeez, make me nervous, why don't ya?" Tails chuckled, and motioned for Sonic to leap off.

Sonic jumped off the cockpit cliff-diver style and angled himself toward the air vent on the helipad. As soon as he was sure he was going to go right in, the hedgehog curled into a ball and bashed through the air vent, attracting little attention from the robot guards. He rolled through the metal duct with little noise, and un-curled just as he hit the ground, touching down lightly. "Alright Tails, I'm in." He said into a small microphone attached to his infrared scope. "Right. The power generator should be around your area. First, get out of the air vent. I'm not detecting any robots, but watch for cameras. Remember, just shut the generator off so I can land here and swipe the atom splicer."

Sonic carefully unhinged the grate of the air duct, pulled it up, and looked through the duct's open area. He saw no cameras, so he dropped to the floor. "Now where, Tails?" He asked as quietly as possible. Tails glanced at panel next to Cosmo, who was sitting next to him, and clicked his microphone back on. "The generator room should be two doors to your left. Be careful." Sonic nodded an affirmative, even though Tails couldn't see it, and quickly dashed through the hallway until reaching the door labeled 'GENERATOR ROOM'.

The hedgehog opened the door with little difficulty. Inside there was a long expanse of plain grey floor tiles, heavily mechanized but unthreatening walls, and a large generator buzzing with energy, housing a purple Chaos Emerald. "There's a Chaos Emerald in the generator. Should I take it out?" Sonic said, walking forward to the generator. Tails thought a little bit, but suddenly his fur stood up on end. "A Chaos Emerald… but I'm not picking up any readings… Sonic! Get out of that room, now!" Sonic took a few more steps, confused. "What fo-" he began, but he was interrupted by metal bars bursting through holes in the ground, entangling his legs. "Tails, it's a trap!" he yelled.

Tails tried to activate his microphone, but the button wouldn't respond. "Tails, what's going on?" Cosmo asked. Tails jabbed a few buttons, attempting to reactivate the connection but nothing responded. "Something's locking us out! Nothing's responding!" Tails then saw his control joysticks moving by their own accord. "Eggman! He must be trying to pull us in!!" He shouted. He didn't touch the joysticks; he feared that he might crash the plane; and sat back, nervously awaiting the landing. "Cosmo, you've got to hide before we land! I don't wanna let you get hurt!" Cosmo shook her head. "I'm not leaving you, Tails. I can't let you get caught by yourself! At least let me come along." Tails tried to protest, but could not bring himself to argue with her.

The plane touched down gently, and the cockpit opened just as such, but the response from the guards outside wasn't as such. "OUT." A nearby robot shouted, its gun pointed at Tails. Tails and Cosmo complied, and climbed out of the cockpit and stood outside of the plane, unsure of what was going to happen. Another nearby robot scanned the two with a laser-pointer-like object. "SUBJECT 1. MILES PROWER. CLASSIFICATION: CAPTIVE." It said as it passed over Tails. "SUBJECT 2. COSMO. CLASSIFICATION: DECEASED. DATABASE ERROR." It said after scanning Cosmo. Tails looked at her and nodded, confident that there was a way out of this predicament. His thinking was interrupted, however, by a robot shoving him and Cosmo in the back. "WALK." It said.

* * *

Sonic stood in the tube-chamber built especially for him by his nemesis, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, better known as 'Eggman'. Said nemesis sat back in a chair, chuckling at his captured foe. "I'm not going to let you go until you tell me why you were trespassing on Eggman Island, Sonic." The fat man shot at the hedgehog. Sonic turned away and crossed his arms. "You wouldn't let me go regardless, Eggy. Admit it." Eggman stood up to reply, but Tails and Cosmo walked into the room, their hands up in fear of the robot guns on their backs.

"Ah, Miles. And C-Cosmo too… it appears I won't need to repair my database after all. We'll catch up later, I suppose. What are you three doing here?" Tails scoffed. "You hacked my plane, but you couldn't intercept audio messages? You're slipping, Robotnik." Eggman laughed along with the fox, albeit half-heartedly, before drawing a laser pistol and pointing it at Tails. "I'm not accepting any other answers other than the truth. You are here for a reason, and I want to know what it is." Tails hung his head low, defeated at gunpoint, and was about to say something when the purple gem on Eggman's desk began to spark. Tails gasped at it. "So the one Sonic saw was a fake! That explains a lot." Eggman looked back at the Emerald. "Yes. I suspected you coming here for the Emerald to defeat Chaos, no? Well, according to my global emerald detector, three are missing. Not undetectable; missing. I took the liberty to study this and found some ancient Echidna scriptures. According to what I read, what you have undoubtedly seen on the television is known as Negative Chaos. And since I have no doubt he is responsible for the death of two of the emeralds. However, it takes the death of one to release Nega-Chaos, and I doubt he could have caused it while locked up in the Master Emerald."

Sonic glared at Eggman. "What are you getting at?" Eggman turned to Cosmo. "This girl is back because you deprived an Emerald not only of its negative energy, which gives it its color, but its positive energy, that which gives it shape, as well? The death of an emerald causes amazing power to burst forth, and such energy could perform miracles… miracles, such as… resurrection." Sonic, Tails, and Cosmo gasped simultaneously. "Not only this, Sonic, but I trust you have experienced dimensional shifts as well as I have?"

Tails shrugged. "Dimensional shifts? What are they?" Eggman sighed. "Behold," he said, as he placed his hand on the desk, "the danger you have afflicted upon the dimension, Prower."

Eggman's hand passed through the desk as if it were insubstantial.

Tails and Sonic gasped again. "Yes, dimensional shifts, in such an advanced state that they can sometimes be caused at will. Touching an object and concentrating upon it while the fabric of space is so loose will cause it to partially leave this dimension. Tails, my friend, by bringing your friend back to life, you have brought upon what can only be Armageddon." Tails clenched his fists at his sides. "What does killing Chaos Emeralds have to do with this, Eggman?" he yelled.

Eggman raised the purple emerald towards the ceiling. "These gems, containing the ultimate power, are the very things that hold the space-time continuum together, naïve fox! You have brought the end of time and space by unleashing Nega-Chaos! Once he destroys all of the Chaos Emeralds, the delicate fabric that has held the dimensions together since time immemorial will be torn apart! Such is the duty of Chaos, who was created for the true purpose of ending all time if the inhabitants of the dimensions ever dared to steal power from the wells of the Gods!"

Sonic walked through the glass tube, surprised that he didn't just run into it. "Looks like he's right… If this is all true, then can't we prevent it? Can't we defeat Chaos?" Eggman laughed. "Unless you have something from another dimension that can fight the unnatural acid of Negative Chaos, then we are all doomed."

Tails then walked forward, away from the robot guards. "That's exactly why we came here."

* * *

**Yet another delayed chapter, yet I believe this one came out a lot better than the last. This one I worked real hard on to ensure the authenticity of the emotions displayed earlier in the chapter. Please comment and review, because I need to know how I'm doing if this story is going to be a good one. (Plus, I need a total of 7 reviews to get into a C02… Heheh…) **

** Thanks for reading,**

** Frost Enduro**

**(P.S. – If you're from Louisiana like I, then count on a BLACK AND GOLD SUPERBOWL, fellas. Who dat!)**


	6. A Harsh Reality

**Hello, everyone, Frost Enduro here. I've been away for a while, and I apologize; I had a major computer crash and I lost everything, so I had to retype this entire chapter, being the longest one so far. Sorry about the long delay, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Everything that needs explaining will be at the end to avoid spoilers. Have fun reading.**

* * *

One Destiny

Chapter Five

A Harsh Reality

"Hm…" muttered Dr. Robotnik. "Well, I suppose if it's for such a task, I see no trouble in letting you use the atom splicer… but expect no more favors, Prower! And you too, Sonic!" The fat doctor roared.

Tails nodded, then turned to leave, but stopped short of the door. "Eggman… can I see something, real quick?" he asked. Cosmo looked at Tails suspiciously. Robotnik cocked his head. "Yes, I suppose. What do you need?" Tails looked at Cosmo. "Cosmo… can you walk towards that emerald on his desk?" he asked. Cosmo hesitated, but nodded after a while and walked forward slowly. Eggman put his hand to his chin. "What are you up to, Prower?" he said. Tails pointed at the emerald. "Look."

As Tails has suspected, the purple emerald was slightly sparking. "A little closer, Cosmo." Tails asked. Cosmo looked at him nervously, but took a few more steps. The sparking intensified to a few shocks midair, making Eggman's moustache stand up on end, and sending tingling sensations through the bones of the three onlookers, but not affecting Cosmo in any way. "Trust me on this. Don't be scared; just touch it." Tails urged. Cosmo turned again and frowned. "Are you… sure?" She asked hesitantly. Tails nodded, and then motioned for Sonic and the Doctor to step back a few feet.

Hesitantly, Cosmo pressed a finger to the emerald. At first, there were light shocks like before. But they intensified, until bolts of electricity violently erupted from the sparkling gem. Cosmo attempted to jump back, but couldn't bring herself to fully do it. She noted that the electricity did nothing to her, but put several burn marks on various items in Eggman's meeting room.

Tails put a hand in front his face, trying to get the brightness of the shocks out of his eyes. "Prower! What have you done?" Eggman yelled. Tails kept his hand up, staying silent. The electricity continued flying around, and the three spectators were barely able to dodge some of the bolts. After a minute or two, the shocking ceased, and Cosmo fell to the floor. "Cosmo!" yelled Tails as he ran to support his friend. The fox lifted her head with his hand and placed his other on her stomach, feeling her breath. She breathed weakly like when she was resurrected, but her eyes were open. "Tails… oh, what happened…? I tried to pull away… it didn't hurt, but it wasn't… right…" she tried to say. "Shh… You're too weak right now, Cosmo. Just rest for a little while. Sonic and I… we'll take you back home. Just rest…" Tails said to comfort her.

"Ack! My Emerald! Prower! She killed the Emerald!" Eggman shouted, surprising Tails. Tails looked at the fat doctor angrily. "What do you mean, Eggman?" He asked. "She's drained the positive and negative energies of the emerald, just like you did to the first one, and the two Negative Chaos absorbed! The emerald is now nothing but this circular black ball!" Tails' eyes widened. "So... does this affect the dimensions in any way?" Tails asked, suddenly less angry and now more worried. Eggman sighed. "Tell me yourself." He said, as he waved his hands through his scorched desk, causing dimensional shifts. "They're strengthening. Even if we defeat Chaos, the World will never be the same unless we can find some way to restore the Emeralds… and you'll have to explain what just occurred so that it won't happen again." Sonic looked at Eggman. "Nega-Chaos is our prime target at the moment, though. Tails, get Cosmo to the Hurricane. Eggman and I will get the atom-thingy." He instructed. Tails nodded, and lifted Cosmo. He twirled his namesakes in his trademark rotor fashion, and lifted off, flying out of the office. "Look it up in your grandfather's notes! There may be something there."

Eggman and Sonic exited the room as well and walked across the landing pad towards a small metal building, about the size of a large closet. Eggman opened the door, stepped inside with Sonic, and pressed a button. The door shut, and they went down.

"Fancy elevator, Eggy." Sonic said, amused. "Wasn't as good as the one at my last base… which you destroyed." Eggman retorted. Sonic frowned. "Look, I know we've been jerks to each other in the past, Eggo, but I think it's past time for a truce. Whaddya say?" Sonic said, extending his hand for a shake. Eggman eyed the hedgehog for a while, but finally bent over and shook his nemesis's hand. "Only until this mess is solved, Hedgehog." The doctor said through closed teeth. Sonic smiled. "Hey, I don't have any problems with that. What's Mobius without you to save it from?" He said. All Eggman did was smile.

* * *

Tails noticed the door of the small building open and Sonic and Eggman walking out, the latter holding a microwave-like object. The two ex-nemeses reached the plane in a short while, and Eggman handed that Atom Splicer to Tails. "Return it when you can. It's one-of-a-kind, so be careful." Tails nodded. "Of course. Thanks for the help… I guess." Tails said.

Eggman twisted his moustache. "Prower, what exactly happened with that Emerald? How did you know that would happen?" he asked. Tails frowned. "She accidentally touched one before and the whole lightning storm bit almost happened. I took it out of her hands just in time, though. It's like she's a magnet to them." He said.

Eggman put his hands to his chin. "Let me ask you something. When Cosmo's resurrection occurred, what exactly happened?" Tails shrugged. "Everything went white, even if you closed your eyes, and there was no sound at all, even if you shouted." He said. Eggman thought harder. "Perhaps..." he muttered. The doctor retrieved a small screen with a keypad from his pocket and flicked it on. "This is my mobile database. Reinforced with 25 passwords, and all of my anti-hack programs. Don't even try stealing it, Fox-boy." Sonic laughed. "Tails could figure all of that stuff easily, couldn't you, Tails?" Tails shrugged in response.

The doctor held the core of the dead emerald up to a scanner. A beam crossed over it a few times, then disappeared. "Object – Chaos Emerald (Drained)" it said in a mechanical voice. Eggman read the article with an amazed look. "According to these ancient Echidnian scripts discovered by my great-grandfather, Igor Robotnik, the Chaos Emeralds contain extra-powerful life forces within them… thus, Cosmo's resurrection at the hands of an emerald would have infused her very soul with the energy of the emeralds. When she touches one, she drains its life force…" Eggman looked at the semi-conscious girl sitting next to Tails. "She is practically a battery of Chaos Emerald Energy… I hope this doesn't prove to be harmful to her. Just don't let her near any more emeralds, do you understand?" The doctor demanded. Tails nodded. He and Sonic climbed into the Hurricane and helped Cosmo onto a sofa in the plane, and then lifted off.

The doctor watched the plane take off intently. "This time you've done it, naïve boy. The dead are meant to remain… By resurrecting her, you have brought upon us Armageddon. And to think that the fate of our universe lies on whether or not this otherworldly metal can kill Negative Chaos…" The doctor rubbed his temples as he walked back to his main lab. "As soon as this is all over, I'm taking a_ long_ vacation."

* * *

The Hurricane touched ground just outside Amy's house. The fox carefully handled the semi-conscious Cosmo while Sonic hopped down carrying the Atom Splicer. They walked into the house, where Frost and Knuckles were waiting.

"Knuckles!" Sonic said. "Looks like you're feeling better." Knuckles shrugged his heavily bandaged shoulders. "Frost helped out with that, he always carries spares he says. He says that 40 % of my entire body is bandaged… So I guess I won't be helping much when we get to the bottom of this." Sonic nodded, and then looked to their alter-dimensional-guest. "Thanks for the help, Frost. For someone who doesn't know us very well, you've been a big help." Frost nodded. "Anything to get back to where I belong, Sonic." The gunner replied. Sonic set the Atom Splicer on a nearby table. "So, we just take some useless junk and convert it into this mythral stuff?" He asked. Tails nodded, and Knuckles just noticed the plant girls' condition.

Tails set Cosmo on the couch. "What happened?" Knuckles asked. "She absorbed a Chaos Emerald, according to Eggman… it's really complicated." Knuckles shrugged. "Is she alright?" he asked. Tails nodded. "She's recovering quickly. Just don't make her talk, and let her rest. If we do that, she'll be fine. Now, for the splicer…" Tails opened the drawer he kept the bullet in and retrieved the small glasslike shell. "So that's where it was. I knew I missed at least one shot on that thing." Frost said. Tails placed the bullet on a small platform on the atom splicer, and turned around. "Now, a common household object. Tupperware would do well. Amy, do you have any?" He asked the pink hedgehog as she walked by. "Of course! Take as much as you need!" she said. Tails nodded and smiled. "Don't you worry; I will." The fox replied.

Tails opened the chamber above the platform on the atom splicer and stuffed as much plastic cutlery inside as he could. "Now, we access the control panel on the side…" Tails said. After a few clicks and beeps, a small bar extended from the side of the splicer, that bended over the bullet on the platform. A small scanning beam traced the bullet, and then disappeared. "Target substance confirmed." The machine beeped. Tails pressed one more button, and the machine's insides lit up brightly. It whirred and buzzed, albeit quietly, for about two minutes, and then stopped. Tails opened the door to the splicer, and pure-white smoke bellowed put. Tails retrieved a few oven mittens from the kitchen, and reached inside.

Out in Tails' hands came out a beautiful, glass-like lump of metal, about as big as a human head. "With this, I can prepare a few things to help us with Negative Chaos." He said. Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "Negative… what now?" he questioned. Tails sighed. "Well… basically, reviving Cosmo caused an Emerald to die…" He began. Tails documented the visit to Eggman's well, down to the most minute details. In the end, Knuckles understood, but barely.

"All I know is that this new Chaos isn't getting off easy! I'll take him down and restore the master Emerald!" he said, anxious. Sonic laughed. "With some of the Emeralds gone and that big hunk of gem breaking every other week, why bother? It won't help us." The hedgehog teased. Knuckles just ignored him. Frost cocked an eyebrow. "I guess you two don't get along much?" he asked. Sonic laughed. "He's just jealous because I get to run around all day while he sits next to his jewel." Knuckles leant over angrily. "Am not! Your immature antics just piss me off!" Tails got in between the two of them. "Knuckles, chill out. Cream's here." Knuckles made an embarrassed expression, and then stepped back next to Frost.

"Anyway, let's head to my lab. I can get to work this metal, and we'll all be able to help each other understand this a little more." Tails said. He looked toward Amy. "We'll leave Cosmo here for a while, okay Amy? Call us if anything goes wrong." He asked. Amy smiled and nodded. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles exited the house and leapt into the Hurricane.

* * *

Cosmo opened her eyes about an hour later, and was greeted by a small floating chao with a bowtie. She cracked a smile, and Cheese the chao floated around her happily. "Chao! Chao!" he squealed. Cosmo sat up, feeling much better than before. Cream and Amy ran into the room excitedly. "Hi, Cosmo!" Cream said as she hugged the plant girl. "Are you feeling better?" she asked. Cosmo nodded. "I feel a tingle in my hands for some reason, but I'm just fine." Cosmo said. Cream got up and Cheese took a comfortable perch on top of her head, as a shiny brown chao floated in. "Oh!" Cream said. "I don't know if you know this chao, Cosmo. This is Chocula! She's Cheese's friend." Cream said. Cosmo smiled. "I guess she was left behind on Mobius?" Cosmo asked. Cream nodded, and Chocula floated around Cosmo with Cheese.

Cosmo laughed at the chao, when she remembered something. "Oh! Where is Tails? And Sonic?" she asked. Amy pointed towards the door. "They left. Going do some experimental stuff on that Chaos Guy." She said. Cosmo stood up. "Thank you. I still feel a bit dizzy… can I get some water from the kitchen?" Cosmo said, subconsciously pointing towards the kitchen. To her surprise, the tingling feeling in her hand turned into a jolt, and a blot of sky-blue lightning flew out towards the direction she was pointing. Cheese and Chocula hugged each other in surprise, and Amy, Cream, and Cosmo's eyes were wide with shock. "Did I…?" Cosmo asked, confused. She ran to the kitchen, and was followed by the other four.

To their surprise (And Amy's relief), nothing was damaged. Only one thing was out of the ordinary; an extra large strawberry, about as large as a small football, directly in the line of fire from Cosmo's finger. Amy stared at it in disbelief. "I left that out to go check up on you… What happened to it?" Amy said, still shocked. Cosmo looked towards another strawberry; a normal sized one, and pointed at it similarly. Another jolt in her finger, and another blot of lightning. The strawberry flashed, and grew to a similar size as the previous one. "This is strange…" Cosmo said, still quite shocked. Amy picked up one of the huge strawberries, struggling to not drop it, and held it to Cosmo. "It's almost as big as a watermelon! That lightning thing sure could help people. We should ask Tails when they get back, Cosmo. This could be really good or really bad."

* * *

Frost had snuck out of the house after the whole strawberry fiasco, and was walking along Emerald Coast. He had never seen so much water in one place before; where he came from, the only water you saw was hard to come by, and had to be created with Arcana or drawn from a well. The youth stopped and looked at the ocean, and then grabbed a small silver chain with a metal coin at the end. Frost turned the coin over, and on the other side was a picture. There was himself, smiling happily, a blonde, cowboy-hat wearing guy sitting back to back with him, a blonde girl in a green dress standing behind them, and finally, a black haired girl smiling and sitting next on the other side of Frost, blushing slightly.

"Garrik, Kaitlyn… Skye…" he muttered to himself. "Will I ever see you guys again?" he said, a hint of sadness in his voice. He looked off into the sunset, clenching the memento in his hand. The water was beautiful, just as Frost had imagined the mythical oceans that were the stuff of children's stories in his wasteland home.

"We'll make it happen, somehow. Now, I've just got to focus on getting out of here. Out of this crazy world. Back to how things were." Frost thought to himself, thinking back on a childhood memory, the one memory that had started his entire adventuring life.

_The white haired boy, about seven years of age sat next to the black haired girl, around the age of six. "Hi Skye! Whatchya doin'?" The little girl glanced up from her storybook. "Um, hi, Frost. It's… a story called 'The Little Mermaid'. It has all kinds of water everywhere." Frost blinked. "Everywhere? No way! There's only supposed to be a little bit anywhere in the world!" he said. Skye turned the book to him. "Look. See all that blue stuff? That's called an 'ocean'. I wish they were real." Frost frowned as Skye lowered her head in sadness. He kneeled down and picked her chin up gently. "Don't worry! When we get older, me, you, and Garrik, and Kaitlyn will go on a real adventure! Not a pretend one, a real journey! We'll all go looking for a big ocean on Filgaia, and we'll show everyone!" he said, excitedly. Skye's eyes lit up with elation. "Really? You mean it?" she said. Frost stood up and twirled his play gun around his finger. "Of course! When Frost Enduro makes a promise, he keeps it!"_

Frost smiled. He had finally found a real ocean, the purpose of him and his friends' journey, but it meant little without them by his side, and even less because it wasn't even on his home planet. Still, he studied the sea adoringly. Then he noticed something.

Some of the water, already tinted red by the setting sun, was getting darker, until its color was that of blood. Then it began to bubble. Frost began to understand what was going on. "Aw, crap." He muttered. He drew his dual bayonets and loaded his final mythral bullet into his shotgun bayonet. The water burst into the sky and formed into a humanoid shape and landed.

"Come to play again, huh Chaos? Eat mythral!" he shouted as he fired the bullet at the monster. At an incredible speed, Chaos created a hole in its stomach and expanded, allowing the scattering bullet to go through without any damage. Frost swore, and leapt back, taking out the medium tablet of Chappapanga, the luck guardian. "Come on, little buddy, I need some help here!" He felt the arcana flow through his arms. He sheathed the left bayonet and held his palm at Chaos. "Random!" he shouted, hoping a bit of luck would come his way. A rumble came from the earth, and all of a sudden, a spire of rock erupted from the sand and covered Chaos. It then receded, leaving a rocky form of Chaos. "Ha! Too easy." Frost said. His victory, however, was short lived. Chaos burst from the rock and melded into a different shape. He transformed into a shark-like creature, with four white lights visible around its brain. It launched a shockwave of sound that knocked Frost off his feet, and then floated above him.

A hissing voice became apparent in Frost's head. "The seven chaos… traveler… where… must feed…" the voice hissed. Frost gritted his teeth, his head in immense pain. "I don't know… You already took four chaos things, right? Leave me out of it!" Chaos floated lower and raised a fin to Frost's forehead, burning him. "Agh! Alright, alright! Ask the people of this world… I'm not from here! Agh, get off! It burns!" he yelled, in extreme agony. Never in his life had he ever experienced such vivid, such horrid pain. He slipped into unconsciousness, and Chaos floated back into the sea.

* * *

Tails was working a keyboard with a complex program displayed on his monitor. "I'll make a set of weapons for the four of us, that will be coated with this stuff." He said. Sonic looked at the screen. "The four of us?" he asked. Tails nodded. "Me, you, Knuckles, and Frost. He's probably the best fighter out of all of us, after all. He needs a set of guns with blades coated with mythral." He said, as a machine began to steam. "Knuckles, those are for you." He said.

On a rising platform coming out of a machine were two golden gloves. "I thought the metal was silver?" he asked, as he looked at the weapons. "I added DNA samples to each of the weapons that I make, so no one else but you can use them; if someone else touches them, they're designed to superheat until they're as hot as a frying pan. The DNA sample changes the color of the metal, however, and different DNA makes different colors." Knuckles carefully picked up the two metal gloves, similar to the shovel claws he was used to wearing. "Hey, these aren't too bad!" he said as he tried them on. He punched the air a few times, each shot making a whistling sound. "Light too. You really outdid yourself this time, Tails."

Before Tails could say thanks, the machine steamed again. "Sonic! The one coming up is yours." Up came a curved sword, called a scimitar, with a dark red tint to the metal, and a white hand guard. "A sword, Tails? I don't know how to use these things. Besides swishing around crazily, of course." Tails frowned. "See how it's curved? I made it like that to compliment your spins, Sonic. Don't worry; I used our normal styles when making these things. Normal fighting style for Knuckles, spinning for you, and a long reach for me so I can fly and hit Chaos at the same time. Speaking of which, mine is done." He said. Sonic shrugged, and spun the sword around through his fingers like a baton.

The machine spewed forth more smoke, and upon the rising pedestal was a blue long sword with a white hand guard. Unlike Sonic's the blade was straight, and much longer. "Alright! It came out great!" he said. He rested it on a table and went back to the computer, typing more complex codes into the machine. "And… there! Frost's two guns should be coming out now." He said.

The pedestal spewed smoke and rose one last time. Upon it were two guns, identical to Frost's guns in shape. However, in color, the wooden handles and shafts were jet black, and the blades were colored like stainless steel, showing a perfect reflection like two sharp mirrors. The only other differences from the original guns were scopes on both guns, and the word 'Filgaia' embedded on the handle of the right gun in solid gold. "Wow! They came out even better than I expected. All of them did. And the best part is, we still have 80% of that lump of mythral left!" Sonic turned to Tails. "That's not a lot on weapons these big, Tails. How did that happen?" Tails raised a finger intelligently, as if he were going to give a long lecture. "That's the beauty in this project! Most of the metal is actually just fine steel. It's just coated in mythral, not made completely of it. Mythral is extremely resistant to acid, so the steel inside won't get…" he said, before being interrupted. "We get it, Tails. Let's just get these guns back to Frost, and then get Chaos back for all of this." Knuckles said.

* * *

Frost sat up, the terrible pain gone from his head. He was now getting hit by waves coming in from the rising tide of the ocean. It felt refreshing, a feeling Frost had never felt before; to be lying in actual natural water, not arcanic water like he was used to. It had a gentle feel to it, and this gentle feeling told Frost that Chaos wasn't there anymore. He felt his forehead, and pulled his fingertips; which were uncovered on his left glove; back into view. Red blood shone on his fingers, but from the looks of the small blood stains on the sand, the ones slowly fading away in the water, he figured he was going to be okay. He wrapped a bandage around his forehead, and laid back.

He laid in the water for a little over an hour; his blades planted in the sand a few feet away, and his mind wandering. He wished his friends could be here, to see the water, to hear the waves crashing, to taste…

"Ugh!" Frost said as he spat out some of the salty ocean water. "Salty…gross…" he. But he laid back once more, keeping his mouth closed this time. _Maybe the ocean on Filgaia won't be as salty._ He jokingly thought to himself. He rested for a little while longer, when he heard a vehicle come to a screeching halt. He jumped up and went for his guns, but relaxed when he saw it was only the Hurricane.

"Frost!" Knuckles said as he leapt out of the vehicle, followed by Sonic and Tails. "Are you alright? We thought you were dead, the way you were laying in the water. What happened? What's with the bandage?" he asked. Frost didn't try to soften the blow one bit. "Chaos attacked me. He said something strange, something about those Chaos things you guys keep talking about."

Sonic looked at Tails worryingly. "Tails? Where are the other three emeralds?" he asked. "In a locked vault in Metropolis City. They're owned by a rich auctioneer. But how would Chaos know that?" Sonic looked back at Knuckles, who was pondering something. "Talked? The thing actually talked?" Knuckles asked. Frost shook his head _no_. "No, it was like a voice invaded my head. It was all over, from one side of my brain to the other."

Tails gasped. "He was probing your mind for info on where the Emeralds are! I'm sure of it! He thought you knew something about the emeralds!" Frost shook his head again. "Not a clue. I just want to go home. Taking this Chaos fellow out is part of the way." He said. Tails' ears straightened up as he remembered the new bayonets. "Oh! We have a little present for you!" he said. He reached into the trunk of the Hurricane and presented the two guns to Frost.

Frost was awestricken. The technology in this world was amazing, but these guns were the most beautiful works of machinery he had ever seen. "Tails… I… these are amazing. How did you do it? They look just like mine…" Tails handed the left handed shotgun to Frost and held up the right handed rifle up. "There are a few differences from your old blades, though. For one, the blade parts on these bayonets are mythral-coated steel. The handle and shaft are hickory bark coated with ebony to make them smoother and more comfortable. Plus I upgraded the firing mechanisms on them; try them both out." He said, handing the right handed gun to Frost.

Frost aimed at the night sky and fired off six rounds from the right one and one shotgun shell from the left. "They're much smoother, less recoil, and they're silenced. Plus, you don't have to just fire six shots from the right gun; I used an assault rifle design instead of a six-shooter. The clip should shoot thirty-five bullets at once now, before having to reload." Tails said, slightly boasting.

Frost smiled and fired of the last twenty nine shots in rapid fire. "I'm amazed. And the personal touch to it, the word Filgaia… this is the best gift anyone's ever given me, you three, and I barely know you guys." Sonic smiled. "You've proven to be a nice guy. Besides, when you get back to your place, you'll be the envy of everyone who owns guns back there." Frost smiled again. The only thing that they didn't understand is that his bayonets were special; they had parts made from the bones of dragons. In his world, dragons were half organic, half mechanical beasts that commanded great power. However, he was quite the gun nut, and he could make the proper modifications to make the guns into true ARMs. Then he'd give his old ones to one of his teammates, or perhaps put them in a glass case and display them.

The boys put his new guns into their holsters. Old holsters, new guns, but they fit perfectly. Frost wasn't as disappointed about coming to this world as he was before.

* * *

Squall Leonhart. Top instructor at Balamb Garden, the legendary floating military academy that had played a major role in the 'Sorceress Wars', as they were now known. He knew the wars, however, as 'Listening to Irvine flirt, Zell brag, Quistis nag, Selphie sing, and Rinoa cry for a few months'.

However, he didn't think the wars to be all that bad. He had previously been extremely reclusive, a true lone wolf. However, when he met and got to know Miss Rinoa Heartilly, his life was never the same again.

And here he was, three sorceresses and two years later, living with his friends and the soon-to-be Rinoa Leonhart, working as something he had always dreamt of. His friends had indeed changed as well, though not as much he did. He still found Irvine Kineas, the sniper from Galbadia Garden, to be a women-crazed narcissist, but he admired the sniper's newfound courage and determination during rough times. He worked with Selphie in the quad since they returned to the Garden.

Then there was Selphie Tilmitt, the spirited girl from Trabia garden. She hadn't changed much at all; she will still enthusiastic and cheerful all the time, but she was more mature nowadays, able to take responsibility much better than before. She had taken of the quad section of the garden and was now in charge of all social events.

Zell Dincht, the hot-headed fighter from Balamb, was still completely devoid of manners, but he had also developed a profound sense of responsibility, and with his new position as the cafeteria's head chef, his responsibility was distributing the finest hot dogs on the continent to the students.

Quistis Trepe, Squall's old instructor and the youngest instructor the garden ever saw, a child prodigy, yet unskilled in the conveying of emotions, was now headmaster of the garden, replacing Cid Kramer after he retired. Quistis was perhaps the best headmaster the garden had seen in recent years.

Squall and Rinoa rarely left each other's side since the events after war. Their relationship went without saying; they were truly star crossed, able to express the deepest emotions and feelings without a single word, without a single movement. They were one, and they felt incomplete without the other.

Even so, Squall needed alone time every once in a while. The sorceress wars had changed him, but not that much. Taking walks on the flight balcony was sometimes just what he needed. He loved the feel of the wind on his face, and loved the quiet, disrupted only by the chirping birds and the garden's centrifuge engine that kept it afloat. They hovered about 100 feet above the ground, traveling all over the world, seeing new places, and introducing students to all kinds of situations, with all kinds of people. And now they were hovering above one of the great lakes of their world, southwest of Trabia. Even a hundred feet in the air, Squall could still smell the ocean. It was comforting, a feeling he needed when he thought to himself.

Since the war, Squall's life had been extremely slow; sure, he was marrying Rinoa in about two months, but he had hardly seen any action for too long. The only practice he got was shooting matches with Irvine, though guns weren't his favored weapon like they were Irvine's. Squall preferred the old-fashioned Gunblade; a sword with a trigger and revolver mechanism to enhance damage. Squall looked to his left and saw a black leather case with the word 'Lionheart' emblazed on it.

_Oh, I forgot I had brought it. _Squall thought to himself. He opened the case to see his personal Gunblade, the Lionheart. A blue blade was attached to a revolver mechanism with a wing shape, and a black leather grip fit to Squall's exact hand measurements was below the gun part. It was one of the best designed weapons to date, and only Squall truly knew how to maximize its usefulness. He was truly a master at the Gunblade discipline.

Squall grabbed the sword and swung it lazily a few times, and brought it to rest on his shoulders, behind his head. He stood there for a second, and opened his eyes, stepping forward and swinging the sword down to the ground. He stepped back, twirling himself and the blade backward once, and stepped forward twice, stabbing with each step, the last step accompanied with a loud gunshot. He then leapt back. The infamous "Strike and Retreat", a technique he developed to strike hard while staying at a safe distance. It was usually all he needed, however, to dispatch any foe.

Squall repeated the maneuver, slicing thin air and repeating the double-stab move, but didn't leap back. He saw something in the distance, a flying, silver bird in the distance. However, the 'bird' was getting larger as it came closer at an alarming rate, until Squall saw that the flying creature was quite reptilian. _A dragon?_ Squall thought. _Dragons don't live in Trabia, they only live near Galbadia… and I've never seen a white one before… this outta be interesting._

The dragon fired a ball of white energy as it got closer. Squall couldn't afford letting anything hit the garden, so he muttered concentrated on the white fireball, his hand on his forehead. "Reflect!" he shouted, and a green wall of magic appeared in front of him, absorbing the white ball and then sending it back at the beast, an attack which was easily dodged. It was getting too close for Squall's comfort, so he leapt back and slammed a red button on the wall next to the door to the inside of the garden. Squall would have to hold his own for a few minutes before help arrived.

He dragon landed on the balcony, with plenty to room to spare. The beast was about fifteen feet long and equally tall, and its' eyes lacked pupils, giving it a truly menacing look. The beast roared loudly, and tried to bite Squall. Squall rolled away and shot a bullet from his Gunblade at the beast. The beast was hit, but barely noticed, the bullet not doing much damage. Squall leapt up and flipped, using his blade to hurt the dragon mid-flip. The dragon's hard scales cracked, but it was otherwise unharmed. Aggravated, the beast blew another white fireball at Squall. Squall barely dodged the blast, which instead went on to hit a table with a pot of flowers upon it. Squall looked back quickly. The chair and table were dry rotted, and the plants were dead, as if the table and flowers had been unattended to for years.

Squall turned back at the dragon, who tried to claw him. Squall rose his sword and managed to block the blow. He called up another magic spell, this time yelling "Blizzaga!" A large crystal of ice shot up from the ground, aiming to impale the dragon. The beast's scales were too tough, however, but it was thrown up in the air.

The dragon regained its posture and assumed flight, hovering above Squall. Suddenly, a door opened, and a blonde haired man in a black-and-red jacket and blue shorts ran to Squall, his fists covered in red gloves with strange patterns. He was followed by a brown pony-tailed man with a black cowboy hat, a leather trench coat, and a hi-tech silver rifle. "Zell! Irvine! Where are the others?" Squall shouted. Zell ducked under a claw swipe from the dragon. "They're getting here. We were nearby, but the girls were on the other side of the garden." Irvine fired off two shots, without much effect. "What is this thing, Squall?" he asked. The dragon landed on the ground again, letting out another roar.

Squall slashed at another claw to keep it at bay. "Hell if I know. Just stay away if it shoots a fireball at you. They aren't normal fireballs!" he said. The dragon, as if on queue, fired a blast at Irvine. Irvine scurried out of the way, the fireball turning the affected piece of concrete into a cracked square. Irvine loaded his gun with pulse ammo while running. "No kidding! Not only that, but he's tough!" He fired the electrically charged bullets at the beast, which recoiled in pain. "Like that, huh?" Irvine teased, and he reloaded more pulse bullets. He didn't have many, so he would have to make every bullet count.

Zell was punching the creature's legs furiously, not doing much harm. The beast, ignoring Zell, whom it could have easily killed at that moment, again tried to bite Squall. The bite was narrowly avoided, and Squall lost a bit of the left arm of his jacket. Through the hole, hot blood flowed freely from the cut. Zell backed away, and concentrated magic into his fist. "Protect!" he yelled, a blue shield appeared in front of Squall, then disappeared. He felt like his skin was tougher, the effect of the spell. The dragon fired 3 more fireballs, all at Squall, whom barely dodged two, and had to reflect the last one. _He's after me, not the others, _Squall thought.

The door opened up again, and three women ran out. Quistis, in her trademark pink sweater and long skirt, brandished her chain whip, 'Save the Queen', and lashed at the dragon, forcing the beast back. Selphie, recognizable by her yellow short dress, crossed her metal nunchaku in an 'X', summoning a Guardian Force, a mystical being able to unleash great power. Rinoa also concentrated, casting a curing spell upon Squall's arm, closing the wound. "All better?" she playfully asked. Squall smiled, a rare reaction by his standards. "Much better now." He said to her. They both had to separate when a claw came down at Squall, who batted it off with a shot from his Gunblade.

Squall was still the primary target of the dragon, who was getting more aggressive as the number of adversaries increased. The pulse ammunition was beginning to hurt, and the strikes from Squall's revolver were beginning to take their toll on the dragon's natural armor. It sucked in breath, ready to unleash more unusual fireballs, when Selphie yelled "Carbuncle!" Green spheres erupted from the ground, spun around her, and flew away in many directions. Out of the sky came a small, green, rabbit like creature with a ruby on its' head. Carbuncle's ruby shone for a little while, and then a flash blinded the fighters and the dragon. When the flash dissipated, Squall and his companions had magical reflection shields in front of them, rendering the dragon's energy attacks useless, and Carbuncle was gone. The dragon unleashed its breath anyway, aiming at the ground of the balcony.

Selphie laughed. "Hey, you dumb dragon! I think you missed!" she shouted triumphantly. Quistis, however, was pale. "He didn't miss… look at the cracks. He's trying to bring down the balcony!" she shouted. No one had time to react, though, before a loud crack was heard, and the balcony was violently shaken. The dragon took to the air right as Squall charged at it, and tried to land on him. Squall dashed away from the door, away from his team, to avoid being crushed, but the weight of the dragon further cracked the concrete. The balcony was nearing a forty-five degree angle. "Get out of here!" yelled Squall, as he slid into the railing, the dragon taking to the skies once more, flying away to leave Squall to his fate. Zell, Selphie, and Quistis immediately retreated inside, while Irvine pumped armor penetration ammo shots at the retreating dragon. Rinoa stood by the cracks, helplessly watching her love get closer to falling to his doom. "Don't you dare leave me again!" she yelled, more out of hope than command.

The balcony tilted even further. Squall's time was running out. Attaching his Gunblade to a clip on his belt, he took off his engagement ring, ripped off his necklace with a medallion of a lion's head, slid the ring onto the necklace and reattached the ends of the necklace, and threw it to Rinoa. "Never." He said as all sound stopped. It seemed like an eternity before finally, the steel framework of the balcony cracked, and Squall was forced to let go of the railing to avoid being crushed. Rinoa screamed, Irvine cursed, and Squall closed his eyes, all at one moment. He felt the G-Forces from the fall working on his insides, felt the wind buffeting his cheeks.

Squall opened his eyes right before he hit the water.

_Purple water?_ He thought, noticing the strange color of the sparkling water. He made contact with the water, then all went dark.

* * *

**As I said in the above note, it's time for explanations! **

**Squall and his gang are ****not**** OC's, rather, they are the main characters of the popular RPG Final Fantasy 8. Look it up on wikipedia if you want a better description of the characters and the events of the story. **

**If you have any questions or comments, either send them via PM or put them on your review. I love reviews. I also like flames, because higher review count never hurt anyone. If you have a problem with anything, or if you just want to speak your mind, do so in a review. Thanks a bunch for putting up with my absence, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll crank out the next one ASAP.**


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